By Matt Jarram, Local Democracy Reporter
Since its creation as an authority in 1992, Nottingham City Council has been Labour-led. At the last local election in May 2019, Labour managed to secure 50 seats, with only three held by Nottingham Independents and two by the Conservatives.
But a report last year suggested the city has suffered political consequences from one party dominating the system for so long. It described how the “impact of a legacy culture” and a “dominant party” had caused serious problems to be overlooked.
It suggested the size of Labour’s majority on the council means democractic scrutiny is not as it should be – leading to serious problems developing with the authority’s finances.
With the next local election now just under a year away, Local Democracy Reporter Matt Jarram reports on the questions facing the current administration while it fights to regain stability in its budgets and maintain independence from Government control.
The collapse of Robin Hood Energy in January 2020 catapulted Nottingham City Council into the national spotlight.
The council company – set up to end fuel poverty and compete with the ‘big six’ energy providers – landed taxpayers with a multi-million pound bill when it went bust.
Independent external auditor Grant Thornton would later describe the council’s failure to recognise the seriousness of the company’s deterioration as ‘institutional blindness’.
The company cost taxpayers an anticipated £38m and led to a government-appointed improvement board now watching the council’s every move.
Since then, the authority, led by new leader Cllr David Mellen, has attempted to rebuild the council’s reputation and financial standing. The scale of the challenge is unprecedented.
Reducing borrowing, saving £38m over the next four years, and creating a culture change across the whole authority are some of the aims.
Tough decisions are having to be made to claw back cash to prevent the Labour Group losing ‘democratic control.’
If they can’t show ‘financial resilience’, then government commissioners could take over the running of the authority. It’s a radical step – but one already taken elsewhere in England where other councils have failed to show they have a way back from serious debts.
Closing five of its nine children’s centres, three libraries and reducing its fleet of youth workers are some of the proposals aimed at balancing its books. These are decisions that will affect residents in some of the most deprived wards in Nottingham, and Labour’s heartland like Radford and Aspley.
Opposition politicians have also begun to ask if Labour are even still fit to rule.
But one of the most striking claims came within a few lines of a detailed report by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny published in June last year.
It described how the “impact of a legacy culture” of “dominant party/ group loyalty” has meant councillors have failed to successfully scrutinise decisions made by its leadership “with any public challenge being seen as ‘disloyalty’”.
It described scrutiny of the council’s finances and budgets as “superficial” which, in turn, has negatively impacted on “transparency and public democratic accountability”.
The “legacy operating culture” also found that senior officers retained a cautious approach to sharing information, especially if there are negative implications.
Labour’s leadership says it plans to change this and has always been adamant that central government is responsible for some of the most difficult choices it is having to make.
They point to a £100m reduction in government funding since 2013, and the rising demand of delivering its statutory duties to adult and child social care.
And most council tax properties in the city are in the lowest bands of A and B, also affecting how much money it can generate. Then there is the inherited half-demolished Broadmarsh shopping centre, handed to the council when owners Intu went bust during the pandemic.
Millions of pounds is needed to transform the site, and while the council has worked at creating a vision, it could be years before it reaches fruition.
Last year, the Government refused to help, denying the authority a Levelling Up bid to aid progress with demolition. A fresh bid will be submitted soon, and a bold new vision for the area has been unveiled. But there are still question marks over the future of one of Nottingham’s largest and most important development projects.
But some of the most recent financial revelations have added yet another layer of controversy and criticism.
In May, it was revealed up to £40m of ringfenced cash from the council’s Housing Revenue Account was misspent on general services instead.
This is council housing tenants’ rent money which should have been spent on their housing and repairs.
An investigation, commissioned by the authority, found up to around £22.8m has been misspent by the council since 2014/15 and £17.1m by its housing provider, Nottingham City Homes. Although the money stayed within the council and went on local services, it was not being channelled where it should have been.
Now, this money must be put back and it is unclear what implications this will have on the council and Nottingham’s residents going forward.
Despite these revelations it appears Labour is not worried of going out of favour in the city.
In March this year, Cllr Sam Webster (Lab), portfolio holder for finance at the time, delivered a speech at full council.
He said voters will continue to put their faith in the Labour Group, despite the ongoing financial problems.
He said at the time the “the extreme pressure” was “thanks to chronic underfunding” by a Conservative Government.
He added: “However, Nottingham does not support this Government. We are a proud city of diversity and respect and of wanting to help people regardless of wealth or status.
“Even when the Conservatives win the majority in the House of Commons, they have fewer councillors here in Nottingham than ever before.
“The reason is the people here know – they know what the Government has done and how much has been slashed. ”
Labour’s Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood also feels the same, saying “Labour is the only party that will stand up for the city and its residents after a decade of Tory funding cuts”.
She said the city had “faced huge challenges in recent years but they’ve met them head on and remain ambitious for Nottingham and its people”.
But the few councillors who don’t represent Labour say they can feel a change in the mood of some voters. Cllr Kevin Clarke is leader of the opposition Nottingham Independents – a small party that has three seats on the council, all in Clifton.
Even he thinks Labour will still be the ruling party following next year’s local election, but he says: “They will lose seats.”
“Nottingham is an old mining community where people used to vote Labour,” he said.
“When you knock on the doors, they say ‘my dad will turn in his grave if we vote for you’. But it is a different Labour to what it was back then.
“We shook them to the foundations when we took three seats in Clifton. It had been a Labour ward for over 50 years.”
He said the latest financial failings will impact the Labour Group in Nottingham and people will be more ‘reluctant’ to vote for them.
He added: “Historically, if you had a teddy bear up there with a red rosette on they would vote for it – that has been the culture of the city for over 20 years.
“But people are sick of red and blue. Is it time for the Independents? I think it will be if we get the right people in.”
He said the party has nine potential candidates with plans to recruit more, targeting some of the wards historically held by Labour.
He said three Labour councillors had even been in touch and shown an interest in moving parties, although he declined to reveal more.
Cllr Andrew Rule, opposition leader of the Conservative Group, is also not convinced Labour has the power it once had over the city.
“Labour are playing on the fact that Nottingham residents were born yesterday,” he claimed.
“But they were not born yesterday and they are acutely aware of the mismanagement that has happened and putting local services like leisure centres and community centres at risk of closure.
“They have said in one breath that the government has taken money away from them, but they still had the money to do Robin Hood Energy and were incapable of managing the money within the Housing Revenue Account as shown by the up to £40m of unlawful spending that has been exposed.
“If that doesn’t (convince people) then you have to ask ‘how much does it take for things to change?’ My aspiration is the Conservatives make gains.”
At the last local election in May 2019, Labour secured 62 per cent of the overall vote in Nottingham, compared to 18 per cent Conservative.
The Meadows had one of the highest turn-outs for Labour, with both elected councillors securing 2,839 of the 4,247 votes.
Tina Redgate, 64, has lived in the Meadows for 39 years, and says the financial failings at the local authority will not stop her voting Labour.
She said a vote for the Conservatives here would be a vote for Boris Johnson’s government and the ‘partygate’ scandal is inexcusable.
“It does put me off, with all the financial problems such as Robin Hood Energy and the Broadmarsh and I don’t think they are doing anything here for the kids.
“But I will still vote Labour.
“The Conservatives have not looked out for us. They all look after the rich and not the poor. We can’t cope on the money we have got.”
Some other residents in the Meadows also said they will still put their faith in Labour at the next local election.
Lorraine Buckland, 59, who has lived in the area for 27 years, said under the current Conservative government she is living on £60 a week.
She shows the Local Democracy Reporting Service her bag of groceries, listing off the high price of some of the items.
“Labour might actually get us some money,” she said. “The Conservatives are not doing much. We are struggling with gas and electric and can’t cope. I live on £60 a week and what can you do with that?”
Liz Jarvis, in her 60s, who has lived in the area for 12 years, added: “They say all this stuff they are going to do for you but they don’t keep their promises.
“When you get your pension, you get it in one hand and it goes out the other especially with all the high prices in the shops.”
Factory worker David Raymond, 56, who has lived in The Meadows for 24 years, says the area is not as strongly Labour as people might think.
He is unsure of how he will cast his vote at next year’s election.
He said: “I don’t think Labour have got a stronghold over this area. I have seen the changes in the Meadows and I am a Labour supporter.
“I believe in the ideas (of Labour) but there is no one out there looking out for ordinary people – and building communities.
“We have got poor housing around here and there is not a lot of adequate housing for young people and families.”
Father-of-three Abdul, 61, who did not wish to give his last name, has lived in the area for more than 40 years and always voted Labour.
He doesn’t think he will at the next local election.
“I used to vote Labour but it is awful at the moment” he said.
“I have three children and I am out of work and things are really bad. For a family person it is a nightmare.”
Retired Rogar Harris, 75, said he will vote for candidates who live in the area rather than a particular political party.
He said: “This council is famous for squandering money. They have got a bad reputation for that so not a lot of people like the Labour party here, but some people won’t vote Conservative. I will vote for whoever lives in the Meadows.”
Other people said they had no idea where their vote would fall while other people said they were so cross with politics they would not be voting at all.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “The only time I see them is when they want your vote and come knocking at your door.”
Cllr David Mellen (Lab) said the Labour Group will “never take the electorate for granted” but believes the council has much to offer.
He said: “We know that the past few years have been difficult and this has led to challenges in delivering on our ambitious commitments for the city.
“However, in spite of these challenges Nottingham Labour remain ambitious for Nottingham and all the people who live and work here.
“We believe that funding cuts don’t mean we can’t afford to be ambitious, they mean we can’t afford not to be.
“Nottingham needs politicians who want to make our city an even better place and who will rise to the challenges facing us, setting an ambitious vision for our city and finding innovative new ways of delivering it. I believe that Nottingham Labour has that vision.
“Since I became leader in 2019, we have been focussed on ensuring that the council operates on a stable financial footing so that it can continue to deliver good services.
“That has meant taking difficult decisions – but in that time we have set a balanced four-year budget, delivered a transformed Nottingham Castle, new car park with a bus station to open next month, will be agreeing plans to fit-out a new Central Library this month, reduced the council’s debt by £250million and agreed plans to deliver over £600million worth of capital projects, including over £200million on building hundreds of new council houses with schemes already delivered in Bulwell, Basford, Top Valley and Bestwood.
“Since the last election, we have had three more years of Conservative Government, this means cuts to funding for services that we all rely on, including rising taxes, the rising cost of living and the squeeze on household finances.
“I believe that only progressive Labour policies backed up by a plan will deliver for Nottingham and I hope the people in our city believe that too.”
