Nottingham City Council will be required to pay up to £60,000 for a newly appointed political envoy who will oversee and support its continuing improvement programme.
Local Government Minister Alison McGovern confirmed the appointment of Sir Stephen Houghton CBE in a letter to council leader Neghat Khan dated July 15.
Sir Stephen will act as Political Envoy and provide oversight, support and guidance as the authority works to deliver changes required by the Government.
He will spend a maximum of 75 days supporting the council and will be paid a daily fee of £800, with the cost met by Nottingham City Council. This means the appointment could cost the authority up to £60,000 if the full allocation is used.
The minister said this was “significantly fewer” than the maximum of 150 days available to each of the commissioners overseeing the council.
The appointment follows Government intervention under the Local Government Act 1999.
In March, ministers concluded that Nottingham City Council was failing to comply with its legal duty to secure continuous improvement in the way it carries out its functions.
Directions were subsequently issued requiring the authority to implement improvement proposals. A ministerial envoy was appointed at that stage, with the Government stating that a second envoy would follow.
In her latest letter, Ms McGovern told Councillor Khan: “The Secretary of State has today appointed Sir Stephen Houghton CBE as Political Envoy to provide oversight, support and guidance to help the Council drive forward improvement.”
She added that the council would meet the cost of the appointment in line with statutory guidance.
The minister said she remained optimistic that Councillor Khan would continue working constructively with the ministerial envoy team to deliver the required changes.
She said the work should help the authority “embed a culture of continuous improvement for the benefit of the people of Nottingham”.
Council Leader, Councillor Neghat Khan, added: “We very much welcome the appointment of Sir Stephen to work with the Council. He brings a wealth of experience and knowledge having led Barnsley, widely regarded as one of the best councils in the country.
“Nottingham has made great strides as a council over the last two years. We are now in a much stronger position financially and this has enabled us to invest millions of pounds of extra funding in front line services this year.
“I’ve said that I want Nottingham to be the most improved council in the country. With a robust Continuous Service Improvement Plan in place, backed by the expertise provided by our two Ministerial Envoys, I believe we are in a strong position to achieve that.”
The letter has also been copied to the council’s chief executive.
