Government welcomes council progress with envoys but calls for stronger leadership buy-in
Commissioners could still be sent to take over Tower Hamlets Council, a minister has warned – despite reports the authority has made “good progress” under government intervention.
Local government minister Jim McMahon said he welcomed “early progress” at the council, described in a recent report by envoys he sent to oversee improvement there in January.
However, he remains concerned there’s not “wholesale buy-in” from senior councillors and managers into the improvement plan.
McMahon said that if improvements weren’t made, then “the option of escalating intervention to commissioners” – who would have the power to make decisions on behalf of the council – remains.
The government sent three ministerial envoys to intervene at Tower Hamlets in January following an inspection in 2024 that found “insufficient evidence” that the council was “open and transparent” or that it “values the constructive criticism required to drive improvement”.
In their first report, written in May and published by the government on Wednesday 9 July, the envoys said Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman has a “clear political mandate” after being elected in May 2022. However, they said political changes, including some councillors switching parties, “have undoubtedly increased political tensions in the council”.
The envoys said councillors showed “poor behaviour” in public meetings that “goes beyond the ususal political theatre” and “distracts the council from doing its business”.
They said: “Whilst all sides are saying they are trying to change their ways, this is not yet evidenced in a range of public meetings.”
However, the envoys said council staff are “passionate about their work and proud to work for the borough”. “There is a real buzz about the town hall, which makes for a positive and energising working environment,” they continued.
The envoys also said the mayor and council were “very delivery- and outcome-focused for the communites they serve” and added:”This approach permeates all aspects of the council’s work. The council has proactvely encouraged, and benefts from, high levels of community engagement in local democracy, which should be commended.”
The envoys praised development on a “continuous improvement plan”, with work scrutinised and challenged by a “transformation and assurance board” and the recent recruitment of permanent senior staff.
They also said that there were “no significant financial concerns” at the council. However, they said there was a “perception of patronage within recruitment practices in some quarters”, which should be addressed by ensuring transparency.
The envoys said the council had made “good progress” on drawing up its improvement plan, although “wholesale political and staff buy-in and involvement in the improvement journey is not yet in place”.
And while they felt “welcomed” by everyone they had met at the council, they had also “not always felt” that staff had prioritised time for meetings with them and that “meeting some individuals has taken longer than it needs to”.
In their conclusion, the envoys said the council had made “some good progress in their initial response to the intervention” but that they now want to see “significant progress” in putting priorities in the improvement plan into action.
In a statement that accompanied the report’s publication, McMahon said: “While I welcome this early progress at the council, I share the ministerial envoys’ concerns that wholesale political and staff buy-in and involvement in the council’s improvement journey is not yet in place.
“I expect to see the council’s improvement work being embedded into ‘business as usual’ council practices in the coming months, along with clear evidence that the political and officer leadership are gripping and proactively driving change.”
A council spokesperson said the council welcomed the envoys’ and ministers’ acknowledgement about “the progress we have made to date” but that there was “more to do”.
The spokesperson said: “We are committed to working together to get increasing support across the council for the improvement process, so we can make lasting and meaningful changes.
“Although we’ve made good and acknowledged progress so far, there’s still more to do to reach our bigger goals. We will keep working together to remove obstacles and make the most of the government’s support.”
If you enjoyed reading this, you may also like Was the Best Value Inspection of Tower Hamlets Council justified?