Bournemouth MP Sir Conor Burns says the BCP Council “experiment has so far failed”.

The Conservative politician said a Government notice demanding improvement from the local authority should come as no surprise to anyone.

Sir Conor, who represents the Bournemouth West constituency, was critical of the council in May, calling on councillors and officers to “focus on the fundamentals”.

Following the publication of the best value notice from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, former minister Sir Conor has urged the council’s chief executive to get staff “back to their desks and end the culture of working from home”.

BCP Council has been issued with a warning from Government after an external assurance review found several areas of concern.

The Government department expected the authority to take heed of the warning and make improvements in the areas identified.

This included a reset of the culture and relationships between officers and members, a review of the transformation programme and agreeing a business plan for urban regeneration company BCP Future Places.

Sir Conor told the Daily Echo: “This notice should come as no surprise to anyone and the reality is that under various forms of political leadership, under different political parties, the BCP experiment has so far failed.

“Residents have noticed a marked deterioration in the delivery of the frontline services that they expect from their council and BCP needs to get its act together and deliver on the promises is made to local people about its efficiency savings and improved public services beyond the organisations that proceed it.

"I have a very simple suggestion to begin with. The chief executive should lead his staff across the whole of the BCP Council area back to their desks and end the culture of working from home.

"Get into the office and focus on delivering to residents, who through their council tax pay for the services."