The city council has approved a plan designed to restore its financial stability.
Government inspectors were sent in to Labour-run Nottingham City Council following the sale of Robin Hood Energy, with losses of £38 million, and a further £12 million bill for all UK energy customers.
The review, carried out by Max Caller, found there had been significant failings in the way the council had been run.
It stopped short of sending in Government commissioners to run the council, because it found there was enough reason for confidence in the new leadership, after leader David Mellen was appointed in 2019 and new chief executive Mel Barrett joined late last year.
However it did make a number of recommendations to the Government, including that a new legal limit be placed on new borrowing for the council, that a Government-appointed board be set up to monitor progress, and that a three-year rescue plan be drawn up by the end of January.
In an extraordinary meeting yesterday (Monday, January 25), the city council has now approved that plan.
It includes a sale of around £100 million worth of property and a review of the ownership model of council-owned companies.
The council has also said it will look again at its four-year plan, published after the election in 2019, which said that it aimed to set up two new companies.
It will now be sent to the Government-appointed panel for its consideration.
In the meeting, Councillor Mellen, who represents the Dales ward for Labour, said: “No one is suggesting that the next little while for us as a city council is going to be easy.
“I believe we can only do this if we work together, both the executive councillors who have contributed really well to this improvement plan, but also every member of this council in our representing of our communities across Nottingham who expect us to lead council services and to respond positively to challenges and to bring people through.
“We need to work together as a council, and I commit to working with all of you in this process.”
