The Government is set to inspect Tower Hamlets Council due to worries about how it’s being managed.
The local authority, under the leadership of Mayor Lutfur Rahman and his Aspire administration elected in 2022, will be scrutinised by inspectors over the coming months.
They’ll be looking into a range of issues including high staff turnover in senior roles, budget plans, financial planning, the use of policy advisers, the £1.4million expansion of the mayor’s office, and how grants have been distributed.
On Thursday (February 22), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) sent a letter to Stephen Halsey, the CEO of Tower Hamlets, about the impending inspection.
The DLUHC has also asked the inspectors to review the decision to bring Tower Hamlets Homes and leisure services back in-house, despite council officers advising against it as they didn’t believe it was the best option for the council.
Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for DLUHC, has taken into account Mr Rahman’s previous term, which ended in 2015 when he was removed from his position as Tower Hamlets mayor and banned from office for five years after being found guilty of election fraud.
In an official statement released this afternoon on X, Mr Rahman expressed his “disappointment” with the Government’s decision to inspect the council but said he was “very confident” the outcome will be “positive”.
Mr Rahman stated: “We will cooperate fully with the process. I am very confident that the outcome will be positive and that we will give the government the assurance it requests. Throughout this process, we will continue as usual in our mission of supporting residents through the cost of living crisis and delivering life-changing policies.”
He continued: “…I remain focused on our residents first and foremost. Tower Hamlets is one of London’s poorest and most overcrowded boroughs, and its residents deserve our continued dedication and service.”
A representative for Tower Hamlets Council expressed surprise at the decision, but confirmed the council’s full cooperation.
The spokesperson said: “Our work has been praised in recent independent reviews by the Local Government Association Peer Review and Investors in People. Although both reviews were positive, we are already delivering action plans to fulfil their recommendations for further improvement as is the culture in our council.”
They added: “In recent months, the council has also made significant progress in resolving historic financial issues of audit, assurance and governance going back to 2016.
“All of this at a time when Tower Hamlets has delivered innovative measures to improve more lives, such as being the only local authority to provide free school meals for all primary and secondary schools – an achievement recognised with an award by a cross-party parliamentary group only last month.”
The Government has appointed Kim Bromley-Derry to lead the inspection and he will report back to Mr Gove on May 31.
