Rotherham commissioners “optimistic” about turning council around

Four of the five appointed by the Government in the wake of the Casey report were at Town Hall to listen to budget proposals on this morning.

Lead commissioner Sir Derek Myers chaired the meeting, flanked by Stella Manzie, Mary Ney and Malcolm Newsam. Julie Kenny was away on business.

Sir Derek — a council chief executive in London for 13 years — told the councillors: “This is the start of a new chapter in which the council and we work together for local people. 

“We want that to go well and we start with a great deal of optimism that we can play our part. 

“We start with a completely open mind about the council. We are not inspectors. It’s not our job to write a report and reach a conclusion about the past.”

The Commission was confirmed on yesterday by local government secretary Eric Pickles after Louise Casey’s inspection found Rotherham Borough Council unfit for purpose.

It has taken charge of all executive and licensing functions until improvement is achieved. Other matters, such as planning, remain with councillors.

Sir Derek said: “It’s not with precedent in England. Therefore it follows that there’s going to be some negotiations about how that works.

“We will bear in mind that we have a responsibility to restore to Rotherham full democratic responsibility and accountability as early as it’s reasonable to do so.”

The agenda included budget proposals for the authority to save £23 million in 2015/16, which the Commission moved for formal approval by full council next Wednesday.

The commissioners will reserve the right to alter the budget in the coming months on their own judgement and advice from officers.

After the meeting, Sir Derek said: “We are off and running. Over the next few weeks the commissioner team will be getting to know the place and the people.

“We have much to do. I do acknowledge that, even now, we are hours nearer to that return to a functioning democracy and bureaucracy.

“It could be said by lazy commenters that the fact we’re here speaks to the point that Rotherham’s not good at anything. That’s not the case.

“Rotherham is good at a number of things. It is better at a number of things than local authorities in Leeds or Sheffield. That’s isn’t to say we’re better at everything.

“We start because of the confidence levels from the Government about how the council seems to have been unable to deal with some of its most vulnerable residents.”

“We must keep those residents foremost in our minds.”

About a third of the council attended. Labour group leader Cllr Chris Read said: “We know that over the last two decades, to many things have gone wrong in our town.

“There’s been much made of a sense of denial. I want to give my assurances that there’s no space for denial. We take these matters seriously and we look forward to working with you.”

UKIP group leader Cllr Caven Vines said he looked forward to working with the commissioners in bringing political governance back to Rotherham.