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2 Nov, 4 tweets, 2 min read
.@CIPFA questions financial viability of council-run energy company - with local taxpayers likely to foot the bill (report by LDR @TaraOConnor_ ) mylondon.news/news/south-lon…
Worth noting that @InsideCroydon has done extensive reporting around the trouble-hit Sutton Decentralised Energy Network (SDEN) insidecroydon.com/2021/10/26/opp…
By no means the first time a local council has found itself in hot water after setting up its own energy company, with Nottingham Council still reeling from the £38m collapse of Robin Hood Energy westbridgfordwire.com/nottingham-cit…
Talking of which, a company part-owned by Warrington Council - itself linked to controversial energy investments by Thurrock Council - has delayed a £12.4m payment to Ofgem bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

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More from @Gareth_Davies09

Gareth Davies Profile picture
3 Nov
THREAD: Yesterday two at-risk local authorities were told to sell off publicly-owned assets - such as leisure centres and libraries - to balance their books in the latest short-sighted (and, in this case, ironic) government response to #councilsincrisis
Peterborough and Wirral councils have been told to take urgent action to plug gaps in their budgets following the publication of reviews into their finances. For a summary, see @patrickjbutler's story from yesterday theguardian.com/society/2021/n…
Key to the measures recommended by public finance body @CIPFA is the sale of publicly-owned land and buildings. While not the first crisis-hit councils expected to do this, such advice flies against the Gov's own rules and will be particularly hard to swallow in Peterborough
Read 19 tweets
Gareth Davies Profile picture
2 Nov
An interesting evening ahead in Thanet, as council members meet to discuss a damning report by auditors Grant Thornton into serious governance failings spanning the last two and a half years
The report describes an extraordinary breakdown in the relationships between the four most senior members of the council's management team, resulting in series of mishandled whistleblowing and grievance complaints and legal costs which could cripple the authority
Thanet commissioned no fewer than eight separate reports, by six independent reviewers, into the whistleblowing and disciplinary issues at the council, but the findings were often "ignored", "discredited" or withheld from elected members
Read 8 tweets
Gareth Davies Profile picture
12 Jul
Local councils up and down the country, already gutted by a decade of austerity, then hammered by Covid, are in the process of budgeting for the coming years. Their plans make for bleak reading. This will be a ongoing thread sharing coverage of our #councilsincrisis
First a look at the big picture, courtesy of the BBC's Data Unit which reports that councils across the UK face £3bn black hole in the wake of Covid. Many were kept afloat by emergency funding but there is huge uncertainty as to what happens next bbc.co.uk/news/uk-577209…
Havering council in London predicts £32m budget shortfall after Covid - which is the equivalent of nearly 20% of its annual spending romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/local-cou…
Read 13 tweets
Gareth Davies Profile picture
11 Jul
Nerves about the game rapidly being replaced by nerves about what’s happening outside Wembley. If it continues in this direction it risks ruining what should be a day of national celebration. More importantly it’s not fair on the team and those wanting to support them responsibly
If kick off is delayed, or worse, due to crowd trouble then we’ll never live it down. It taints the whole experience
And don’t go blaming the late kick off. The tournament schedule isn’t to blame for complete morons with no self control, who care more about ‘bantz’ than the occasion or supporting the side
Read 4 tweets
Gareth Davies Profile picture
11 Nov 20
Exclusive: Croydon Council issues Section 114 notice - effectively the equivalent of bankruptcy - with immediate effect

It's the first local authority to do so since Northamptonshire County Council in 2018
A notice informing councillors was sent out minutes ago by Lisa Taylor, the council's director of finance, investment and risk - and the authority's Section 151 officer
The immediate cause is the financial impact of Covid-19 but, as I explained in the thread below a few weeks ago, the council's financial problems are far more ingrained than that
Read 30 tweets
Gareth Davies Profile picture
9 Nov 20
Surprise surprise - I'm still waiting for @thurrockcouncil to explain why it borrowed £125m of public money last month (or to even acknowledge my Qs). I'm told opposition leader asked but has also been given no response.

This is not how a local authority should conduct itself
I've reported on local authorities for 12 years so no stranger to how they deal with the press. I've been told 'it's not a story', shouted and sworn at, pulled in for meetings, received complaints to editors and even the PCC.

I've never been repeatedly ignored, until now
Even those councils who thought I was a pain in the backside or paid only lip service to transparency and accountability, never just ignored me when given the chance to explain or respond to something.

At the very least they realised it was just bad PR
Read 5 tweets

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