Latest news with #WarringtonCouncil
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington: Government intervenes at council with £1.8bn debt
Four ministerial envoys will work with Warrington Council over the next five years after concerns were raised about the local authority's debt levels and commercial government earlier this year said it planned to intervene at the Labour-run council, which has built up £1.8bn of debts mainly linked to its commercial investment envoys will be expected to "support, challenge and advise" Warrington Council, which will retain responsibility for improving the way it is Leader Hans Mundry said: "We look forward to working alongside them positively and receiving their expert challenge and support." 'Accountable' An inspection was ordered by the previous Conservative government and the subsequent "best value" report was published in it recommended sending commissioners in to run parts of the council - something which previously happened at nearby Liverpool City Council - the government instead opted to deploy ministerial are accountable to the government and have certain powers which can be used if deemed include scrutiny of decision-making, the ability to appoint, dismiss and manage senior officers' performance, and limit further borrowing and government has appointed Sir Stephen Houghton as ministerial envoy, with Harry Catherall, Carolyn Williamson and Phil Brookes being ministerial envoys with powers to exercise a written statement, Local Government Minister Jim McMahon said he was "confident" the "necessary" package would address Warrington Council's said: "The success of Warrington is important both for its own benefit, and that of the region with its critical role in devolution which offers significant opportunities to drive up growth, improve transport connectivity and build new homes, as well as raising living standards for its population." 'Improvement plan' A letter to the council's chief executive from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said Secretary of State Angela Rayner "recognises the expertise of these appointees and is confident that they will be key to helping resolve Warrington Borough Council's issues as quickly and effectively as possible".The letter also said there was the "clear expectation" that Warrington Council would retain responsibility for making measures require the council to prepare an improvement plan within six months, begin recruitment for a permanent appointment to lead the improvement work, to review all of its investments in the first two years and to "fully co-operate" with the council is to pay £1,200 a day for the lead envoy and £1,100 for the other measures will remain in force until 31 July 2030, unless the government decides to amend or revoke Council said it welcomed the envoys' said: "We have always seen the appointment of envoys as a supportive step. Knowing who our envoys will be provides us with important clarity as we continue to work at pace on driving forward our improvement plan."It's our commitment to keep working relentlessly, as we have done in recent months, to address the recommendations that have been made to us through the 'best value' process. "Our envoys will help us to strengthen this work, and we look forward to them joining us." See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington: Chief exec retirement 'right time for council reset'
The outgoing chief executive of Warrington Council said it is the right time for him to hand over for a "reset" of the Steven Broomhead will retire after spending nearly 20 years in charge of the authority over two separate terms, and he was also the head of the former North West Regional Development Agency for seven 69-year-old said he had seen "a lot of positive changes" during his time as chief executive, but said the biggest issue was "adequate and proper funding" for local Park, currently the council's executive director for place, will take up the role on an interim basis on 1 July. A 'beacon' of regeneration Prof Broomhead was the local authority's chief executive from 1997 to 2003 and then took up the role again, initially on an interim basis, in 2003 to 2010, he was the chief executive of the North West Regional Development Broomhead said during his time in charge at Warrington Council, he was proud of the redevelopment of the town centre, in particular the council's Time Square development."I'm proud about how we've managed to deliver so much, given the level of funding we've had," he said."We work here in Warrington really well in a partnership way with the private sector."I think we've done some really good things here, we're often held up as a beacon of how to do regeneration." But he also highlighted his work at the NWRDA, in particular the regeneration of MediaCity in Salford, and said the agency's work is still noted more than a decade after its closure."People still approach me about it and talk about the things we did because they triggered lots of other investments."MediaCity was just the BBC moving out of London with seven departments, but it's been a great economic success and other media companies, including private companies, have joined MediaCity."There's examples of that all round the North West."The regional development agencies were closed in 2012 and replaced with local enterprise partnerships, which were now set to have their functions merged with councils and combined authorities after the withdrawal of central government said he hoped devolution would provide an and Warrington was currently going through the devolution process and was set to elect its first mayor in May 2026."I hope what you'll see is the combined authorities, which we hope we'll have a full set of within a year, they'll work co-operatively around the economic agenda." Time for a 'reset' Warrington Council has faced controversy in recent years, especially around its investment programme which has led to it building up around £1.8bn in debt.A government inspection was ordered after concerns about the level of debt, and it has been recommended that ministerial envoys be sent into the Broomhead said his decision to retire was not linked to the recent inspection and he thought now was time to handover for a "reset"."Someone else will lead [the council] in a different way than I have for the last 20 years, so I think now is the right time," he said. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Warrington Council could have to pay £1,100 per day for advisers
Warrington Council could face a £363,000 bill if the government ultimately decides to send special advisers to the town following concerns about the way it is inspection was ordered by the previous Conservative government after criticism of the council's £1.8bn debts, which mostly relate to its commercial inspectors' report found Warrington was failing in five areas, including leadership, culture and use of council said advisers, known as ministerial envoys, could cost £1,100 a day plus expenses. In May, Warrington Council said it welcomed the idea of ministerial envoys being appointed."This is a supportive decision and will help us to deliver the changes needed," it a report written for a full council meeting later said there would be "significant costs" associated with implementing the recommended example, hiring a new executive director and an independent chair for the council's audit and governance committee would cost the local authority an estimated £196, inspection report said there was "resistance" in the council's response to external challenges and that the inspectors were not confident that town hall bosses had the "will and capacity" to make changes without external also found a lack of strategic direction, councillors being "highly respectful" of powerful officers, and a "defensiveness to internal and external scrutiny".If the government decides to send three envoys to the town for the proposed five-year period, they would mainly advise the council, which would remain in day-to-day though, the envoys could step in and take over "as a last resort". See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
Telegraph
01-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Travellers turn Cheshire green belt field into car park in 72 hours
A group of travellers have caused outrage after parking on a six-acre green belt field and turning it into a gravel car park within 72 hours. Bulldozers, excavators and HGVs moved onto the plot on the outskirts of Burtonwood, Cheshire, and started the unauthorised work over the bank holiday weekend at the end of last month. It is believed the travellers bought the land, with caravans and associated vehicles being moved onto the site on May 23. In three days, a 10ft-high wooden fence was erected along the boundary, and half the field was covered in hardcore and gravel. Around 13 caravans, four vans, a digger and three cars were parked on the hardcore earlier this week. Following the unauthorised work, a retrospective planning application was submitted to the local council. Warrington borough council launched an investigation after concerns were raised by nearby residents. An enforcement notice has also been submitted by officials. 'The transformation is shocking' Ward councillors Stuart Mann and Kevin Burgess had reported concerns to Cheshire Police and Warrington borough council over possible planning breaches. ScottishPower was also asked to conduct an emergency investigation into a possible attempt to tap into the mains supply. The council said it would 'take strong enforcement action within the legal framework' and that 'this has already commenced'. Cllr Mann said: 'It is important for it to be known that the people who have done this own the land. Concerns have been raised, and the council needs to ensure that necessary checks and balances have been put in place.' Locals took to Facebook to express their concerns, with one saying: 'The transformation is shocking.' Another said: 'It seems they ain't going anywhere. Hopefully, they are good neighbours.' A third added: 'They are obviously wanting privacy – the speed that the border fence has been erected is phenomenal.' Villagers said excavators were digging up half of the field and removing the earth in tipper trucks between the bank holiday's Friday and Sunday. They also told how work went on continuously over the three days. The plot is on Farmers Lane, at the Tan House Lane junction, with locals saying the land was green belt and for agricultural use only. Travellers are an ethnic minority group and are protected under equality legislation. Commenting on the situation, Cllr Mann said: 'I would like to thank residents for their patience and support, as well as the many emails and calls I have received. 'As matters are now involving a formal and legal process, and to maintain independence of any application and investigation, I am unable to share anything more than is stated below. 'I have met with the chief executive of Warrington borough council and the MP for Warrington North to raise our ongoing concerns regarding the development on Farmers Lane. 'I have received, from the borough council planning and enforcement teams, that a retrospective planning application has been received, but that it is yet to be validated. Any such application has to be determined on its relative merits. This will take a number of weeks. 'Information will be gathered as part of this process, which will inform the enforcement position.' Warrington borough council also said it had 'established a priority enforcement case' over the situation in Burtonwood.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Warrington Council's adult safeguarding system 'does not work'
Warrington Council's adult social care services have been rated as requiring improvement by inspectors, with concerns raised around its "complex" safeguarding Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the authority's procedures "didn't structurally work to keep people safe", with its digital triage system on its online portal automatically closing some referrals without them being said "rapid and widespread improvement" was needed in this area but there was also "positive work" being done by Council said it would act "swiftly and decisively" on the recommendations and that improvements were "already being made". The report said the authority spent just over a quarter of its budget on adult social care last year, and that there were about 3,500 people accessing long-term adult social care support and about 2,000 using short-term support during the CQC said safeguarding processes were complex and a cause for said the online portal for reporting safeguarding concerns had responses being triaged digitally depending on the answers given and could "result in some safeguarding concerns being closed inappropriately".But in other areas, the report said, there had been a "clear culture shift" and the authority was working on a "prevention first" there was "mixed feedback" about peoples' experiences, many spoke positively about staff and described them as "caring, compassionate and helpful".But some were frustrated by the length of time they had to wait for assessments, the report added. 'Good foundations' James Bullion, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said the authority had "passionate staff" who were doing "positive work""However, the local authority has a lot of work to do around how they were safeguarding residents, and this is the area we found needed rapid and widespread improvement," he said."Warrington Borough Council have some good foundations on which to build their improvements and continue to do the things they are doing well."The watchdog said it would notify the health secretary and outline the area where improvement was Maureen McLaughlin, cabinet member for statutory health and adult social care, said: "I understand the concerns this may raise with residents."While there are clear areas of strength highlighted in the report, there are also areas where the council needs to do better."The council is acting swiftly and decisively on the recommendations outlined in the report - listening to the feedback provided by the assessors and working at pace to put the necessary changes and improvements in place."Ministerial envoys are set to be sent into Warrington Council over concerns raised about its commercial programme and council's children's services were last year rated as good overall, including outstanding in two areas. See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.
