Middlesbrough Council: Calls for government to take control

Politicians have called for government commissioners to take control of a Labour-run council facing bankruptcy.

Conservative MP Simon Clarke and Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen have requested an intervention "before matters deteriorate further".

Middlesbrough Council approved the sell-off of assets in November after an overspend of more than £8.5m was forecast for the second quarter of the financial year.

Earlier in the week, the council announced new proposals with the aim of saving about £14m.

However a council report, published externally on Tuesday said the new plans, which are yet to be approved, would still leave a £6.27m shortfall in funding.

In the letter to Simon Hoare MP, parliamentary under-secretary of state for local government, Mr Clarke and Mr Houchen said "the time has come for a statutory intervention".

"Faced with asset disposals, service cuts and closures on an unprecedented scale, we believe that the public in Middlesbrough could face no worse outcomes under a statutory intervention," the letter read.

It continued: "The council might actually enjoy better options, in particular if sustainable plans to address the very high number of adults and children needing support from social services can be developed and/or strengthened through external expertise."

The letter was co-signed by Conservative councillors Mieka Smiles, David Coupe, Luke Mason and Luke Hurst.

Andy McDonald, the independent MP for Middlesbrough said the move by Mr Houchen and Sir Clarke was "vindictive and wholly irresponsible", describing it as "a party political stunt".

Mayor of Middlesbrough, Chris Cooke, said the letter to Mr Hoare was "littered with inaccuracies" and the call for commissioners to step in was "a call to abandon Middlesbrough".

Chief executive at the council, Clive Heaphy, said the council's focus is responding to concerns raised by auditors and government and "delivering the best services we can to the people of Middlesbrough".

He added that council staff's "professionalism and commitment to the challenges we face are not in question".