ASPIRE PARTY/X
The inspection aims to assess the council's adherence to best practices in delivering services to the community under the leadership of mayor Luftur Rahman.

Government officials will be sent to Tower Hamlets council to inspect its management under mayor Lutfur Rahman.

A letter to Tower Hamlets Council sent on Thursday by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) details several issues which are said to be cause for alarm.

The inspection will examine budgetary proposals, financial planning, senior management appointments, grant-making policies, and electoral processes.

Former chief executive of Newham Council, Kim Bromley-Derry, will lead the inspection and is expected to report the findings by May 31.

A High Court ruling in 2015 found Mr Rahman had won the 2014 election in the borough with the help of “corrupt and illegal practices”, including the wrongful portrayal of his rival candidate John Biggs as a racist and the allocation of grants in a way that amounted to bribery.

The election was subsequently declared void and Mr Rahman was disqualified from holding office for five years, but he was re-elected as executive mayor in 2022.

A High Court ruling in 2015 found Luftur Rahman had won the 2014 election in the borough with the help of “corrupt and illegal practices”. The election was declared void and Mr Rahman was disqualified from holding office for five years. CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO

The inspection, initiated by the government, aims to assess the council’s adherence to best practices in delivering services to the community.

The letter from Max Soule, DLUHC’s deputy director for local government stewardship, was sent to Tower Hamlets chief executive Stephen Halsey, who took the role in July having previously been the council’s head of paid service during a period of previous failures identified in 2014.

The letter notifies the council that it will be inspected to establish whether it is meeting its “best value duty” under the Local Government Audit and Accountability Act 1999.

This is a requirement for local authorities to “make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”.

The letter said Mr Rahman appointed Alibor Choudhury, who was also found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices in 2014, as deputy head of the mayor’s office in June 2022.

Mr Rahman’s failure to attend more than 20 meetings of the council’s overview and scrutiny committee since July 2022 will also be investigated.

The letter identifies a “significant level of churn” across management posts and notes evidence of the mayor’s office model causing unnecessary delays in decision-making.

Concerns were also raised about the council’s financial strategy, with a balanced budget in 2024/25 relying on the use of reserves, the success of untested adjustments to revenues and £31 million savings, which is described as “significant level”.

Council leadership ‘surprised’

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We look forward to working in partnership to show the progress we have made as a council under our current administration.

“We are surprised by the decision. However, it is of course the prerogative of the government and we are confident in our work and will co-operate fully.

“Our work has been praised in recent independent reviews by the Local Government Association Peer Review and Investors in People.

“Although both reviews were positive, we are already delivering action plans to fulfil their recommendations for further improvement as is the culture in our council.

“In recent months, the council has also made significant progress in resolving historic financial issues of audit, assurance and governance going back to 2016.”