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Background

On 22 January 2025 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced a statutory intervention into the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It appointed Ministerial Envoys to work comprehensively within the council, acting as:

  • advisors
  • mentors
  • monitors, to oversee our improvement work.

This decision follows the Ministers consideration of the Best Value Inspection Report, published on 12 November 2024.

On 17 March 2026, the Secretary of State announced by Written Ministerial Statement his decision to strengthen the statutory intervention to accelerate and support the council’s improvement to ensure compliance with its Best Value Duty in relation to Continuous Improvement, Governance, Leadership, Culture, Partnerships and Use of Resources. The Government published the revised Ministerial Directions, issued the Envoys with powers in reserve, and noted their intentions to appoint an additional Assistant Envoy with finance expertise.

You can read the full background to the intervention and access all government publications on the GOV.UK website.

Directions from the Secretary of State

The Directions from the Secretary of State, in summary, require the council to:

  • continue to implement its Continuous Improvement Plan in a timely manner, including action to continue to address the Statutory Recommendations and significant weaknesses identified by the council’s external auditor
  • continue to achieve improvements in scrutiny, recruitment, transparency, procurement, contract management, internal investigations, officer structure and the scheme of delegation
  • co-operate with the Envoys to adequately resource and deliver the deep dive project into alleged misconduct at the council
  • disband its Transformation and Assurance Board and establish an Envoy-led Improvement Board to oversee its delivery against the ministerial Directions
  • take appropriate action to ensure compliance with its Best Value Duty in relation to Leadership, Governance, Culture, Partnerships and Community Engagement, Continuous Improvement and Use of Resources.

Current Envoys

Our current Envoys are:

  • Kim Bromley-Derry CBE DL (Lead Envoy)
  • Pam Parkes (Assistant Envoy)
  • Shokat Lal (Assistant Envoy)

Programme of improvement

The intervention is supported by a programme of improvement focused on ensuring the council’s compliance with its Best Value Duty, including:

  • a continuous improvement programme
  • a fully costed Political Mentoring Programme
  • a fully costed Programme of Cultural Change to rebuild trust between Officers and Members