The ministers will intervene in the operation of tower villages council Amid concerns about the local authority’s “toxic” culture and lack of transparency, it was announced on Tuesday.

Decisions made by the east London The town hall will be supervised by a Government-Envoy appointed after a series of complaints and controversies under the independent executive mayor of the municipality. Lutfur Rahman.

It comes after a critical report was published into the council’s financial and personnel management, ordered under the previous Conservative government.

He found that:

• The lack of respect and cooperation between political parties at city hall “prevents councilors from participating in a culture of genuine improvement” and this contributed to the “turnover of officials at senior levels” of the organisation.

• A perception among staff that “many good managers had left the organization as a result of ‘speaking truth to power’”

• While there is a push to deliver on the mayor’s priorities, due process is often treated as an “obstacle to priorities rather than a necessary check and balance.”

• The entire organization is affected by a lack of trust and many employees and partners have described the culture as “toxic.”

• While the council has a strong community focus, a significant amount of councilors and staff “time and energy” is spent in local communities, which “appears to distract from its critical strategic and statutory relationships”.

local government minister Jim McMahon He said the council was “failing in its duty of best value” and would appoint a “ministerial envoy and deputy envoy to act as an advisor, mentor and supervisor to the council, and to oversee its improvement work”.

He added: “This action is not taken lightly and I am committed to working in partnership with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to provide all necessary support to ensure its compliance with the Best Value Duty and high standards of governance for local residents. and service users wait.”

Rahman and his Aspire party beat Labor to be re-elected leader of Tower Hamlets in 2022, seven years after he was dramatically ousted from office following a vote-rigging scandal.

He was banned from politics for five years following a conviction by the electoral court, which upheld allegations of bribery, false statements and undue influence in relation to his victory in the district in the 2014 local elections.

Following the scandal, the then communities secretary, Eric Pickles, took over management of the council and appointed commissioners to oversee decisions.

Pickles told the Commons at the time that Rahman had awarded public money like a “medieval monarch” and led an administration that was “at best, dysfunctional (and) at worst, rife with cronyism and corruption”.

The 2014 vote was repeated and won by the Labor Party, which worked alongside the commissioners until they were stood down in 2017.

Earlier this year, then Secretary of State Michael Gove again sent government inspectors to Tower Hamlets after the Local Government Association (LGA) raised concerns about how it was being run.

A Tower Hamlets council spokesperson said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to appoint an envoy rather than sending commissioners, with a plan to work alongside us on a support package, with the council retaining all its powers.

“This report commends the Council for: the dedication of its staff; achieve financial stability; make good progress in service delivery; implement external challenges and support through the Transformation Advisory Council and hold robust elections.

“We have adopted innovative measures, including being the only council in the country to provide free, universal school meals to primary and secondary school children; free swimming for women and girls, scholarships for college and university students; and we are on track to deliver one of the largest quantities of new homes in London.

“The results of our community-focused work are reflected in the extremely positive response from our residents in our annual countywide survey.”