Inspection into the governance of Tower Hamlets council and subsequent intervention: 2014-18
Documents relating to the statutory inspection and intervention in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, 2014-18.
See documents relating to the Best Value Inspection of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets - 2024, announced in February 2024.
This page collates all the publications relating to the inspection carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) of the governance of Tower Hamlets council conducted under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999 and subsequent intervention.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced an independent inspection of the London borough of Tower Hamlets on 4 April 2014 after he received documents which made serious allegations about poor governance and financial management at the council.
The PwC report was published on 4 November 2014, which found evidence of serious irregularities and a lack of transparency over the awarding of public grants and disposal of public buildings.
Along with a written ministerial statement to Parliament, and after careful consideration, the Secretary of State made an oral statement in the House of Commons on 4 November 2014 in which he proposed the appointment of commissioners under the Local Government Act of 1999.
On 17 December 2014 the Secretary of State confirmed that he was sending in commissioners and named Sir Ken Knight CBE QFSM, the former London Fire Commissioner and Chief Fire and Rescue Advisor to the government, as the lead commissioner and Max Caller CBE, the then Chairman of the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, as a supporting commissioner. The team, with immediate effect, took control of grant making within the council and responsibility for appointing an Electoral Registration Officer and Returning Officer for local elections.
Following the Election Court’s removal of the Mayor of Tower Hamlets from office and in consultation with the commissioners and Her Majesty’s Official Opposition, on 29 April 2015 the Secretary of State announced that he was proposing additional intervention powers for the commissioners to order Tower Hamlets to take any actions needed to safeguard good governance throughout the council until a new mayor and top officer team are in place and fully bedded in. The Secretary of State has also issued a Direction requiring the council to appoint, through open competition, a Head of Paid Service, and appointed 2 further commissioners (Chris Allison CBE and Alan Wood CBE) to join the existing commissioner team.
On 6 May 2015, additional directions were issued by the Secretary of State in accordance with his powers under section 15 of the Local Government Act 1999 extending the commissioners’ powers to take any actions needed to ensure good governance and effective financial management in the borough. An accompanying covering letter set out the circumstances in which the Secretary of State made these additional directions, his reasons for this exercise of his powers, and the implications of the additional directions for the authority.
In a letter to the Mayor of Tower Hamlets on 23 October 2015, the Secretary of State welcomed the progress the council had made over the previous 6 months and announced that the 6 May Directions would expire on 31 October.
On 2 December 2016 the Secretary of State wrote to the Mayor of Tower Hamlets to propose a revised intervention package for the council which would return the grants function and end commissioner oversight of the council’s procurement processes and practices. As a result, grant functions were officially returned to the council on 16 January 2017.
On 28 March 2017, the Secretary of State withdrew commissioners from Tower Hamlets and introduced new Directions to ensure that the council continued the Best Value Strategy and Action Plan that they had established; and made regular progress reports. The Directions also required the council to commission an independent Peer Review by the Local Government Association focusing on governance.
In June 2018, in accordance with Directions, a Corporate Peer Review Challenge was carried out culminating in a report copied to the Secretary of State.
On 28 September 2018, Minister for Local Government, Rishi Sunak MP wrote to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on behalf of the Secretary of State to confirm that the Secretary of State was satisfied that, following the Peer Review and progress demonstrated in delivering Best Value Act Plan in the quarterly reports, the Directions should end on 30 September 2018 thereby ending the intervention.
2018 documents
2017 documents
2016 document
2015 documents
2014 documents
Updates to this page
Last updated 23 September 2019 + show all updates
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Added further correspondence and reports from 2017 to 2018.
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Added government response to Tower Hamlets best value action plan updates.
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Added 'Additional directions to the council of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and related documents'.
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Added 'Directions to the council of the London borough of Tower Hamlets and related documents', associated press release and written ministerial statement.
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Added updated information on undertakings received and 'Letter to Tower Hamlets council: property disposal transactions'.
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Added 'Letter to Tower Hamlets council: property disposals and transfers'.
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Added update on the requested undertaking from Tower Hamlets on grant making and the appointment of statutory officers.
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Added explanatory text.
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First published.