DESPITE the call from more than 5,000 people Thurrock Council's administration has said it will not be swayed by public opinion and has dismissed another call for an independent public inquiry into how the collapse of its finance came about.

A similar plea was narrowly voted down by a Conservative majority earlier this year and now on the council's senior officers, interim finance director Steve Mair has told independent councillor Gary Byrne a petition he accepted on behalf of the borough community is effectively worthless.

The council has even rejected debating the petition at full council.

The petition, organised by borough resident John Radford, was accepted and handed over by Cllr Byrne at full council on Wednesday, 27 September.

Cllr Byrne told the meeting: "This contains more than 250 pages with more than 5,500 signatures. Will you listen to the will of people?  This petition demands an independent inquiry." 

However, Cllr Byrne's plea on behalf of residents has been blanked and the veracity of the petition has even been questioned, with officers saying not all the names can be verified according to the council's rules so it falls below the threshold for a new debate.

Even though there are 5,000 names on the petition, Democratic services officer Matthew Bouter has told Cllr Byrne: "When submitted, petitions are validated to ensure they comply with the rules of the constitution.

"Each petition, to qualify for a response, requires 10 names, addresses and signatures from Thurrock electors. Your petition was validated under those rules. But to have a council debate the petition would need to have 1,500 validated entries under the same rules.

"This second requirement is where your petition has not qualified."

It appears that judgement was reached because the digital petition was organised independently – rather than through the council's own online portal - and the majority of contributors of signatures were online rather than written.

In advance of next week's full council meeting, Cllr Byrne has been told the petition has been rejected.

Interim Chief Financial and Section 151 officer Steven Mair, an experienced financial trouble-shooter who has acted for the government on other financial interventions, has made the judgement call.

Steven Mair (left) whose interim contract with the council is set to expire, has rejected the petition saying an inquiry is of 'no obvious benefit'.

He has told Cllr Byrne: "As you will be aware the Council has already received an initial Government direction that established that:

the Council should prepare an improvement plan to the satisfaction of the Commissioners

a series of Council functions were to be exercised by the Commissioners. These include the Authority's functions over managing its financial resources, exercise of the statutory requirement to arrange for the proper administration of the Authority's financial affairs, and all functions associated with the strategic financial management of the Authority

"A direction that Essex County Council as a best value inspector, would be required to inspect the governance, audit (internal and external), risk management, overview and scrutiny functions of the Council and consider their impact on service delivery.

"This being in order to assess the extent of the failure to comply with the best value duty by the Authority, beyond the management of financial resources, and to make recommendations to mitigate the risk to service delivery that any further failure may have

"A series of recommendations arising from this report

Two reports by the Commissioners with a range a recommendations

Two expansions to the intervention package

"Regarding its financial position the Council has four major streams of budget reductions which are underway:

selling £1.035bn of investments to the fullest extent possible to pay down debt and in doing so ensure the governance, project management, budgetary control etc of this programme of work is properly undertaken

generating over £100m of capital receipts to also pay down debt

reducing reliance on borrowing to fund the general fund capital programme to avoid increasing debt

saving £18.2m from the revenue budget for next 2 years and a further £13.65m for each of the following 3 years. This may change over time

"and is utilising external advisors where necessary to provide additional support and quality assurance.

"The Best Value Inspection amounts to an independent investigation into the position and doing anything further at this stage would as a consequence add further costs for the Council with no obvious benefit."

Cllr Byrne responded by telling Thurrock Nub News: "The will of borough residents appears to count for nothing.

"Mr Mair says we have had an 'independent investigation'. One orchestrated by the Conservative government and run by councillors and officers from a neighbouring Conservative council. And many of its findings remain secret. How is that 'indepoendent? How is it public? We have been told what happend - but not how it happend and who made it happen. That is what we want to know- and what we have a right to know.

"This shabby Conservative administration, backed by the government, will go to any lengths to cover up its catastrophic handling of residents' money that has caused a debt of almost £1.5 billion. Borough residents will be suffering for many years to come with the axe falling on many vital and life-acting services.

"Buses have already gone, bin collections are to go fortnightly, we're going to have to pay for garden waste disposal, hundreds of staff are likely to lose their jobs, children will lose school transport allowances and many other brutal cuts will strike at the heart of our communities in Thurrock.

"But according to this administration attempting to hold the people who did this to account and naming those who were responsible is of 'no obvious benefit'.

"Try telling that to the homeless and disadvantaged people which the council cannot afford to give comfort to as they queue at the Foodbank for a Christmas sandwich.

"No doubt Mr Mair and the other highly paid senior officers and Conservative councillors who deny all responsibility won't be giving them any thought as they tuck into their turkey in their leafy suburbs.

"It's shameful and a disgrace to the democratic process.

"More than 5,000 people have expressed their opinion but the council doesn't give a damn. What price democracy in Thurrock?"

Now just one call for a public inquiry remains unanswered - but there appears little hope that the council will pay heed to the wishes of resdients who names were collected in Corringham

While the petition organised by Mr Radford, another along similar lines, which contains all written names, signatures and addresses and was collected on the streets of Corringham and Stanford, still awaits a verdict.

It was delivered by local resident Kabul Sandu, one of those who collected names.

Initially the council told Mr Sandu and the other name collectors it  would not be accepted because it was too similar to the one accepted on residents' behalf and presented by Cllr Byrne.

In the end it was passed over to cabinet with a damning indictment delivered personally by Mr Sandu.

He said: "We demand that the council hold a public inquiry into the council's financial collapse.

"Should any persons be guilty of negligence - evidence obtained should be handed to the police for criminal action.

"Why? The bankruptcy of Thurrock is different from other councils in the scale of its one and a half billion-pound squander and the manner in which it was incurred.

"For the sake of accountability, we need to know.

"Where was the oversight by the finance and scrutiny committees.

"Were they ignorant of financial risk, incompetent or criminally negligent.

"Did they see nothing; hear nothing; say nothing?

"We residents with a £1.5 billion albatross around our necks say we need a public enquiry."

Kabul Sandu delivers his emotive plea for answers.

On receipt of Mr Sandu's  petition, finance portfolio holder Cllr Graham Snell said: "You do raise some points there which have been levelled at us since this council fell into the problems that it has had.

"We will look at the petition and will give it due regard and in good time we will come back with our response."

Cllr Jefferies added: "Thank you for your petition, which we will have to verify. And thank you for your heartfelt words."

In the wake of Mr Mair's decision – it seems likely that Mr Sandu's questions – like those of thousands of angry borough residents – will again fall on deaf ears.