Cash-strapped council will pay bill for inspection

A council facing a multi-million pound shortfall will foot the bill for a best-value inspection ordered by the government.

Bedford Borough Council will pay up to £3,400 per day for three inspectors to examine the way it operates.

Similar inspections at other councils have cost as much as £360k, and the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "Taxpayers will rightly be furious."

The government wants the inspection to take place because it is worried about governance arrangements and financial management at the council.

The authority will be responsible for paying the fees of the lead inspector, who costs £1,200 per day, and two assistant inspectors valued at £1,100 each per day.

The inspection will take three months, so if all three inspectors were on duty on each working day during that period, the total cost would be up to £210,800.

A best-value inspection at Spelthorne Borough Council in Surrey left the authority with a bill of at least £200,000, and Tower Hamlets is thought to have spent at least £360,000 on its review.

Shimeon Lee from the pressure group The Taxpayers' Alliance said: "I think that taxpayers will rightly be furious that their council tax is going towards tidying up this mess instead of delivering vital public services.

"This is money that would not have to be spent if the council actually did their job."

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government told the BBC it was only right councils paid the current market rate for the highly experienced local government leaders who had been appointed.

It added it was for the inspection team to determine the level of time and presence required to carry out their work effectively.

Abu Sultan, who leads the Labour group, said: "Having to foot the bill for a team of inspectors hardly constitutes best value for our residents when this money could have been spent on front-line services.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition, Henry Vann, said: "This huge sum is just going to add to the financial catastrophe, and it would have been unnecessary if the mayor had not destroyed council finances."

The BBC asked the mayor's office for a comment and, in response, Conservative group leader Graeme Coombes said: "The claim that the council's finances have been 'destroyed' is simply untrue.

"CIPFA's independent review set out the scale of the problems we inherited in May 2023, and the urgent need for a stronger financial grip and governance.

"I know the mayor and his cabinet welcome the inspectors' scrutiny and support, even with the cost, because the price of not fixing these issues would be far higher for residents and local services."

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