Feuding political leaders ordered to stop fighting and ‘play nicely’

The Bristol area’s feuding political leaders have been ordered to stop fighting, “play nicely” and work together or risk losing vital government money.

In an “utterly damning” report, auditors Grant Thornton found five “significant weaknesses” in the West of England Combined Authority’s (WECA’s) arrangements to secure value for money in its use of resources.

They concluded that such a large number of “significant governance weakness is a major concern”.

Grant Thornton also found that the way a top officer was given a £59,000 golden handshake placed the organisation “at the potential risk of committing to an unlawful payment”.

The 2020/21 value for money audit report makes three legally binding statutory recommendations, which are the most serious that can be applied to a public body and must be reported to government and addressed as an urgent priority.

Grant Thornton has issued such recommendations to only six of the 180 local authorities whose books it has examined in 2022.

WECA bosses have accepted the findings but insist they run the “most successful combined authority in the country”, having brought in nearly £1bn to the region in the last year.

They also suggested the combined authority has achieved this because of, and not despite, the major public fallouts between metro mayor Dan Norris and the leaders of its three constituent councils – Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset – and that a “pretence” of unanimity would be “unhelpful”.

However, members of the cross-party audit committee slammed their response to the report as “complacent” and an attempt to “sweep it under the table”.

Two of the statutory recommendations, as well as one of two key recommendations the auditors also made – which are a step down but still urgent – relate to “strained relationships” among the four political leaders and even some top officers.

The report said: “The poor state of professional relationships between the combined authority mayor and the representatives of the other members of the combined authority, and between some chief officers, reflect a significant weakness in partnership governance.

“We are concerned that the ongoing poor state of relationships could start to limit the ability to work together to optimise strategic opportunities in future.

“External perceptions of dysfunction could also begin to affect the reputation of the combined authority with central government and other partners, ultimately affecting the ability to raise further funding and undermining public confidence.”

But auditors concluded that despite such perceptions, WECA “has not become dysfunctional” because significant new money had been secured and was allocated to projects effectively.

They recommended: “The mayor and members of the combined authority represented by the council leaders must commit to improving their working relationship and demonstrate that significant progress has been made within a reasonable timeframe.

“This should include a role for independent mediation and the constructive consideration of advice arising from this process.”

In response, WECA management said Labour’s Norris and Bristol Labour mayor Marvin Rees, South Gloucestershire council leader Conservative Toby Savage and B&NES council leader Lib Dem Kevin Guy had taken part in a mediation process chaired by UWE vice-chancellor professor Steve West which was still ongoing and should result in a “protocol for future working”.

A WECA committee comprising Norris and the three council leaders was expected to vote on officer advice on how the combined authority should respond to each of the auditors’ recommendations on Thursday.

But the meeting lasted just six minutes and was adjourned when no one would second the paper.

Main photo: Bristol City Council

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