Question
I thank the Minister for the intervention that his Department has made with the rapid best-value assessment at Ashfield district council, in response to my representations over the past two months. These are extremely serious allegations, and my constituents in Hucknall have been let down badly by the council. Will the Minister confirm that urgent action is being taken? Can he say what more can be done to prevent further inappropriate decisions, especially on planning? Does he agree that the severity of the allegations warrants a referral to the police for an independent investigation?
Answer
My hon. Friend has raised this matter on a number of occasions, and I hope she received a copy of my letter on Friday after raising it further. The issue is very serious. In addition to the points I have made about the rapid best-value review and the conversations taking place with the council’s chief executive, I can also say that our officials will be contacting the external auditor to understand more details of the case.
Verdict: AMBER (47/100)
The reply clearly describes urgent action already under way, including a rapid best-value review, talks with the council's chief executive, and officials contacting the external auditor. It only partly addresses how such inappropriate decisions will be prevented in future, and it does not say how planning matters would be handled. On whether a police referral or independent investigation is warranted, the reply acknowledges the seriousness of the issue but does not commit to a position, so the question is not clearly answered and would likely need to be raised again.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether urgent action is being taken in response to the allegations at Ashfield district council. | Addressed | Direct | The reply describes concrete action already under way: a rapid best-value review, conversations with the council's chief executive, and officials contacting the external auditor to understand the case. Together these answer whether urgent action is being taken. |
| What more the Government can do to prevent further inappropriate decisions by Ashfield district council, particularly on planning. | Partially Addressed | Direct | The rapid best-value review and the discussions with the chief executive are concrete mechanisms that could address future inappropriate decisions, but the reply never links them to preventing decisions or says anything specific about planning, which the item names. |
| Whether the Minister agrees that the severity of the allegations at Ashfield district council warrants a referral to the police for an independent investigation. | Partially Addressed | Hedged | The reply acknowledges that the issue is very serious but never states whether the Minister agrees a police referral is warranted. The external auditor contact is a different route and is not presented as an answer on police referral or independent investigation. |