By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Government review board members tasked with monitoring Nottingham City Council’s precarious finances will be getting a pay rise.
The Improvement and Assurance Board has been keeping a close eye on the local authority since an intervention was launched last year.
The local authority faces a £26million budget gap this year, and illegally misspent up to £16million of housing money.
Sir Tony Redmond, the chair of the board, will be receiving an increase from £900 to £1000 per day.
This will be backdated to September 2022, with all of his fees paid by Nottingham City Council.
All other members of the board will get a boost from £800 to £900.
The Government says this reflects the board’s statutory status from when the intervention began.
Nottingham City Council announced in July that it expected a £26million budget gap for this year, driven by rising inflation, a national staff pay award, reduced Government funding and increased homelessness.
The authority’s problems are exacerbated by the misspending of up to £16million.
A 2021 investigation found the ring-fenced Housing Revenue Account (HRA) money was spent in its general fund.
The cost of repaying this money stood at £51million, according to a report earlier this year.
The council has only published a ten page summary on the spending to date, saying the full report is confidential.
