Government sends in 'envoys' to help council

The government is sending "envoys" to a city to make sure improvements happen three years after it declared itself effectively bankrupt.

Nottingham City Council has been under government intervention since it announced it could not balance its budget in 2023.

The government's overseers, who had the power to overrule the council, left last month, and will now be replaced by "ministerial envoys", who will be there to observe and advise the authority.

The council recognised there was "more work to do" but said the reduction in oversight showed they had "turned a corner".

Government commissioners were sent in in February 2024 in a bid to speed up improvements after the council issued a section 114 notice, amid an in-year budget gap of £23m.

It came after high-profile financial failings, including the collapse of Robin Hood Energy, which is believed to have cost taxpayers about £38m.

The trio left last month, saying "much progress" had been made at the Labour-led authority, but more work was needed to embed the improvements.

The government accepted this, but decided the authority was still "failing to comply with its best value duty".

Sharon Kemp, who had been one of the commissioners and is the former chief executive of Rotherham Council, will now return as a ministerial envoy, with another still to be appointed.

They will have no power to overrule the council, as she did before, and instead will observe, report back to ministers and provide advice.

She and the other envoy will be paid £800 a day for their work, for a maximum of 75 days each.

The government has also told the council to set up a committee to advise and oversee improvements, to come up with an improvement plan and to cover the envoys' costs.

The council's leader, Neghat Khan, said: "With a balanced budget, the lowest increase in council tax for 18 years and our debt reduced by 64%, we now have the best financial performance of any of the UK's Core Cities.

"In our discussions with ministers, we made clear our willingness to seek ongoing external expertise but that this should be light touch with a limited cost to the council and local taxpayers.

"I'm pleased that the government has listened and that the support being offered is proportionate.

"We want to be the most improved council in the country, delivering for local people and moving the city forward, and I believe we are well on the way to being able to say that with confidence."

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