Government officials are 'monitoring' Nottingham City Council's ownership of Robin Hood Energy following the release of a damning report.
The Labour-led authority was accused of "institutional blindness" after independent auditors Grant Thornton said other services suffered as tens of millions of taxpayers' pounds were pumped into the venture.
The city council has "accepted" the findings of the Public Interest Report, released on Tuesday, August 11, but the Government is also now involved in the situation.
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick, who is also the Tory MP for nearby Newark, said: "This is a very concerning situation. Public Interest Reports are issued rarely so this is clearly a significant matter and the Government is monitoring the situation closely.
“Councils have a duty to manage tax payers money responsibly and should be held to account where they are found to have failed to do so.”
Robin Hood Energy was set up in 2015 in a bid to tackle fuel poverty in Nottingham and provide an alternative to the ‘big 6’ energy suppliers.
But in that time it has spent millions of pounds trying to make the company a success. Just a few weeks ago it was confirmed a debt of £24 million was written off by the city council.
The report criticised the position of councillors on the boards of its subsidiary firms and also confirmed council cuts were increased as a 'direct result' of the firm's financial performance.
David Mellen, Nottingham City Council leader, apologised as the document was released to the public.
Councillor Mellen added: "Many of our decisions were deemed not quick enough by the auditor in response to what was happening financially, but we need to spend time so they could be considered decisions.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing but now we must look at how we can encourage this company to succeed.
“I am sorry for the effect this resource has had on Nottingham. As a leader, I am sorry for the things we did wrong despite our best intentions.”
