The critical report on BCP Council can be a “line in the sand”, the authority’s leader has said.

Cllr Vikki Slade said the external assurance review commissioned by the Government provided a “helpful opportunity to reset” for the council’s second term.

As reported, the assessment carried out on behalf of the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) identified several areas of concern at BCP Council which needed to be addressed.

These issues led a civil servant in the department to issue a best value notice letter to council chief executive Graham Farrant.

The notice, which urged the council to make urgent improvements, raised issues with the culture and financial stability of the unitary authority.

BCP Council was only the third authority in the country to receive such a letter from the department.

Cllr Slade told the Daily Echo she did not have a problem with the review, which covered the period from the council’s formation in 2019 up to a couple of months before May’s local elections.

“It is actually a really good way of bringing the journey we have all been on to an official point and making a line in the sand,” she said.

“I think it is quite a helpful opportunity to reset where we are with the new term.”

Bournemouth Echo: BCP Council leader Vikki SladeBCP Council leader Vikki Slade (Image: Freelance)

The Lib Dem councillor added: “Why has this review been done? The review has been done because a request was made for a capitalisation direction (last summer) and it was a condition of that. This isn’t that they picked on us.

“The council put itself in a position of asking for something and part of the contractual arrangement was you will have these things done.

“We knew it was coming. Those of us who have lived through it have been worried about quite a few things.

“We have been raising concerns about the scope of the transformation project, the ambition of the transformation project, the way the budgets have been operated over the past couple of years.

“We have been raising concerns about the political behaviours, the member relationships, the staff’s morale issues.

“They are all issues that those of us who have been inside it have been worried about.”

Cllr Slade said the timing of the assessment “could not be better”, adding that there are a lot of new councillors and a few new senior officers.

“The first term, I think, of any brand new council is always going to be a difficult time,” Cllr Slade said. “There is always going to be turmoil. People are always finding their feet.

“This was at the extreme end of that but actually anybody who thought the past four years was going to be straightforward was probably naïve.”

Cabinet members will be discussing the external review, Mr Farrant’s own review of the council, the best value notice and an action plan responding to the specific points raised at their next meeting in September.

Experienced local government official Lesley Seary carried out the background and field work for her review in February and March before submitting the final report to DLUHC in June.

Mr Farrant said he would be carrying out monthly internal updates on the action plan's progress, which he would share with DLUHC so it can see what is being done.

“I want to open with DLUHC as well as with our residents,” Mr Farrant said.

Bournemouth Echo: BCP Council chief executive Graham FarrantBCP Council chief executive Graham Farrant (Image: Richard Crease)

“We are taking it very seriously. It is not intended to maim or hurt, so for example it doesn’t come with any restrictions on grant access and that was a key point for me. Some interventions prevent you applying for different grants.

“This doesn’t impact on the residents by way of looking at that but it is saying we want to be clear about governance and we want to be clear about the way the council is run and we want to see what you are doing.”