THE Prime Minister has dodged a call for a public inquiry into “con man” who is being accused of leading Thurrock Council into a catastrophic financial collapse reports the Local Democracy Reporter.
At Prime Ministers Questions, Thurrock MP Jen Craft called for Sir Keir Starmer to back an independent inquiry into the failings which left the council virtually bankrupt and facing a £1.3 billion debt in 2022.
Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Ms Craft said: “Two years ago Thurrock Council was led into effective bankruptcy by the then Conservative administration, in no small part due to an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds into a solar farm scheme run by a con man.
“Given the Prime Minister’s commitment to integrity in public life will he support mine and my constituents calls for a public inquiry so those responsible can finally be held to account?”
Rising to his feet to respond, the Prime Minister thanked Ms Craft for her question but said: “Because years of underfunding have left councils facing huge budget pressures. What’s happened in Thurrock is shocking. We are committed to resetting the relationship and helping those under intervention to recover and reform. 14 years is a long time to destroy local services and it’s clear it will take time to fix them.
“We will get councils back on their feet by providing multi-year settlements but ultimately we have to grow our economy.”
The previous Tory administration at Thurrock Council along with the then Conservative Government refused to back a call for the disastrous investments made with money borrowed from other council’s across the country.
The fallout will be felt by Thurrock residents for decades to come but Government appointed commissioners brought in to clear up the financial mess have also declined to call for a public inquiry.
Councillors have since backed an official inquiry and a call was recently made for the cash-strapped council to fund an inquiry itself. However, John Kent, leader of the council said, while he supported an inquiry, the council’s current £1 billion debt prevented it from funding it.
