Best Value Inspection of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
On 22 February, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities appointed inspectors to undertake an inspection of Tower Hamlets Council under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999. The Secretary of State decided to commission this inspection to provide him with direct, independent assurance that the council is complying with its Best Value Duty. This duty requires the council to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, with regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
The government has published a letter from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to Stephen Halsey, the Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, detailing the decision taken by the Secretary of State to appoint inspectors.
Ministers have appointed Kim-Bromley Derry CBE DL as Lead Inspector, and Suki Binjal, Sir John Jenkins and Philip Simpkins as Assistant Inspectors. The Secretary of State has asked inspectors to report their findings to him by 31 May 2024 or such later date as may be agreed with the Secretary of State. The inspection process is independent of government.
Members of the community who wish to contact the inspectors should email towerhamlets.inspectors@levellingup.gov.uk.
The Inspectors
Kim Bromley-Derry – Lead Inspector
Kim has more than 35 years of public sector experience, including 8 years as Chief Executive of the London Borough of Newham. He was also Director of Children’s Services at both the London Borough of Newham and South Tyneside Council and a Children’s Services Director at Leicester City Council. Kim was appointed Interim Chief Executive of Sandwell Council in August 2021, and subsequently appointed by the Secretary of State as a Commissioner at the same authority in 2022.
Suki Binjal
Suki is a recognised public sector solicitor with over 25 years of providing legal and strategic advice to local authorities and other public bodies. She has worked with several Districts, London Boroughs, County Councils and Unitary local authorities where the perception of good governance, culture and behaviours have varied. She previously worked in Tower Hamlets Council from 2005-2009. She was recently the Monitoring Officer and interim Director of Governance and Law at Northumberland County Council and has been appointed as an independent adviser to Middlesbrough Council’s Improvement Board. She is also part of an independent review team carrying out a governance review at Guildford Borough Council using the using Best Value principles based on the DHLUC guidance for local authorities.
She was the president of Lawyers in Local Government from 2017 to 2019, a national membership body representing public sector lawyers and continues to represent lawyers in local government on the Law Society Council. She is currently the Chair for Fighting Fraud and Corruption Locally, an LGA supported initiative.
Suki’s previous roles have included a directorship with the Commission for Racial Equality. She was also a founder member of a women's refuge and chaired the Portsmouth Equalities Forum.
Sir John Jenkins
Sir John is a former senior British diplomat who, after studying Arabic at SOAS and in Amman and Damascus, joined the FCO in 1980 and served mainly in the Middle East and South East Asia. His first posting was to Abu Dhabi. He subsequently served in Kuwait and Malaysia and as Head of Mission in Burma, Jerusalem, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia. He was Director for the Middle East and North Africa in the FCO between 2007 and 2009. He has particular expertise in the Islamic world and policy issues relating to extremism and radicalisation and after his diplomatic career he worked for the International Institute of Strategic Studies in Bahrain, Yale University, Policy Exchange and Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics.
Philip Simpkins
Philip has over 40 years’ local government experience, including almost 12 years as a Chief Executive of Bedford Borough Council. He is a CIPFA qualified accountant and has experience as a local authority chief finance officer. Philip has also been the East of England lead Chief Executive for Children’s Services, concentrating on service improvement. Philip became the first lead Chief Executive for the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and led the growth fund task group for the Local Enterprise Partnership.