The Borough of Tower Hamlets is planning to spend £6million over the next three years on a slew of new posts designed to address failings identified by a government probe last year.
An independent best value inspection served to the council in August 2024 by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government exposed serious concerns about the borough’s leadership, culture, governance, and partnership.
Such failures, the report said, had led to allegations of a toxic environment of intimidation, a culture of patronage, and a dominant and highly directive leadership style concentrated in the mayor’s office.
Tower Hamlets Council’s Labour Party secretary, Councillor Marc Francis, expressed his concern about the proposals and claimed that by creating these new roles, senior council figures could in his view partially avoid accountability for the failings identified in the best value inspection.
Cllr Francis said: “These roles, relatively junior roles, will not change what’s needed.
“What’s needed is a fundamental change in attitude from the mayor and senior leadership team.”
Cllr Francis agreed a senior improvement post was necessary in light of the ministerial directions.
However, he said the council’s plans for certain new roles, such as for cultural change, went beyond the mandate, and added he feared the current administration were doubling down on previous errors and following the same path which led to the 2015 investigation by electoral authorities.
Tower Hamlets senior leadership has been under intense scrutiny in recent years.
In April 2015 an electoral court found current Mayor Luftur Rahman guilty of corrupt and illegal practices, including voting fraud, making false statements against opposing candidates, bribery, and spiritual influence.
He was banned from holding office for five years and his May 2014 re-election was voided.
Rahman subsequently regained office in 2022, and his Aspire Party gained control of Tower Hamlets council the same year.
The 2024 Best Value Inspection was considered by Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner.
Satisfied the authority had failed its best value duty, she authorised a package of reform measures to be sent on her behalf to Tower Hamlets borough chief executive Stephen Halsey.
Last month, Tower Hamlets proposed measures to address the directions it was served, the latter mandating plans for a programme of cultural change, a programme of political mentoring, and a continuous improvement plan.
In its Annual Budget passed on Wednesday 26 February the council revealed plans to spend £2million every year until 2028 on a number of roles to address the serious concerns of the Best Value Inspection.
This includes spending on the salaries and expenses of ministerial envoys sent in to advise on the improvements.
| Investments | Cost (£000) |
| Improvement Lead Officer | 227 |
| Head of Service – Improvement | 111 |
| Part Time Director of Legal | 115 |
| Partnership Lead Officer | 95 |
| 2 x Scrutiny Roles | 129 |
| 2 x Cultural Change Roles | 129 |
| Cultural Change – External Support | 70 |
| External Research & Engagement Support | 40 |
| 2 x Ministerial Envoys | 338 |
| Additional Transformation Board Activity | 72 |
| Additional Audit Costs | 333 |
| Increased Property Valuation Required for Audit | 140 |
| Contingency | 201 |
| Total Cost | 2,000 |
| Total Cost over Three Years | 6,000 |
However, these plans were criticised by opposition councillors and Labour proposed to scrap four of the ten roles, including the two cultural change roles (costing £64,500 each, annually) and the part-time director of legal (£115,000 annually).
Responding to claims about their recruitment, a spokesperson for Tower Hamlet’s Council stressed that their efforts were part of a transparent and independent process which followed the ministerial direction.
The spokesperson added the council was mandated to provide a permanent appointment which would lead improvements.
They said: “In discussion with [the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government] and the envoys, they have been clear that this needs to be a senior role with a seat at the corporate management team.
“In advertising this role, we are fulfilling our obligations under the ministerial directions and building the right capability and capacity to drive the improvement journey.”
Aspire Party’s Councillor Bordrul Choudhury added: “Labour councillors’ mudslinging is exactly what the best value report said all political parties need to stop doing and instead work to foster a more cooperative political culture.”
Echoing comments made by fellow councillor Saied Ahmed last Wednesday, Cllr Choudhury claimed that efforts were already underway to make the executive more efficient.
Cllr Choudhury said: “The mayor has cut down on waste and duplication in the council and ensured that business rates and taxes on wealthy parts of the borough are used to improve residents’ lives, with an unprecedented £184million in funding over six years 2022-2028 and ground-breaking initiatives to support with cost of living which no other council is providing.”
Photo Credit: Inside Tower Hamlet’s Town Hall 2024-05-15, Matt Brown, Wikimedia Commons (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0).
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