Raynsford steps into Hull's battle with ex-chief executive

Local government minister Nick Raynsford has been forced to intervene in the increasingly bitter dispute between Hull council and its suspended chief executive Jim Brooks.

The news comes as independent consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers has slammed plans by the ruling Labour cabinet to shake up the management of the authority – a subject over which Raynsford has also threatened to take action (HT 13 June, page 8).

Raynsford's intervention and the PricewaterhouseCoopers report mean more chaos for the beleaguered council, which has so far failed to start tackling its chronic housing oversupply.

The minister got involved after Hull councillors and the suspended Brooks were unable to agree on an independent candidate to arbitrate their dispute.

A spokeswoman for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister said Raynsford was "minded to appoint" Nicholas Underhill a QC, an expert on employment law.

If Raynsford fails to do this before next Friday, under Hull's rules, the suspended chief executive will return to work on 4 August.

If Underhill is appointed, he will have to judge whether Jim Brooks advised Liberal Democrat councillors to leak an Audit Commission report critical of the previous Labour administration. Underhill was unavailable for comment as Housing Today went to press.

Brooks was suspended after the Labour Party returned to power in the 1 May local elections (HT 6 June, page 9).

Brooks said: "These are trumped-up charges, which Labour made no secret they were going to level during their time in opposition. It's not, and never was a disciplinary matter."

The two sides failed to agree on an independent arbitrator during a first meeting last Tuesday in Hull. The council then wrote to Raynsford on 18 July requesting his help.

At the same time, Hull council is also in the dock over proposed changes to its corporate management structure, unveiled on 2 June – the same day Brooks was suspended.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers report, commissioned by Lord Richard Best, who has been charged with keeping the council on track and focused on housing renewal, has panned the changes proposed by the new Labour administration.

The report, due out next Monday, states that many features of the Labour proposals: "pose significant risks to the council going forward. In addition, the recent experience of other large local authorities that have abolished the post of chief executive is that the problems that are created outweigh benefits."

The changes will be voted on by a full council meeting on 31 July.

Independent Hull councillor Chris Jarvis said: "An organisation without a chief executive and no corporate management structure is a lame duck. How can we ever begin to address the housing issues that face us?"

Hull is also one of two local authorities responsible for the Humberside market renewal pathfinder, the only pathfinder not to have received central government approval.