My group leader and leader of South Holland District Council, is doing a sterling job in his role as chairman of the Local Government Association, of defending the indefensible.

His recent appeal for local government to stop trading blows with ‘our’ Secretary of State for Local Government, seems to continue to fall on deaf ears when it comes to the man himself, Sajid Javid.

instead of being supportive and constructive, he has chosen to take on the enforcers role, of battering down the doors of democracy and ‘sending in the boys’.  Is this what passes for proactive leadership in his world?

A relatively small council, albeit a relatively wealthy inner London one, confronted by such an extraordinary event as the Grenfell Tower fire, doesn’t need taking over, by a bunch of self important bureaucrats and highminded senior councillors.  Asking for help is one thing, what he’s suggesting is a different beast altogether and is normally reserved for councils where political warfare, corruption, or financial mismanagement has become endemic.

Having placed a very large boot on every council’s throat at the recent Local Govenment Conference, by telling them that they had lost the public’s confidence, he’s now decided to prove his point by threatening to jump the gun at K&C.

Look in the mirror Mr Javid and you’ll see whose lost confidence in who.

What a shame the PM didn’t get her majority, as this could well have seen a new SoS, such as Gavin Barwell, who sadly also lost his seat.  As it is, we have one who is far more comfortable dealing with the spreadsheets and financial projections of his previous Treasury job, than he is with the real people and grass roots democracy of local government.

Copied from MJ online

Government open to Kensington & Chelsea takeover
13 July 2017
The Government will ‘take over’ Kensington & Chelsea RLBC if necessary, the communities secretary Sajid Javid has said.

In an interview with broadcast journalist Robert Peston yesterday, Mr Javid said that while the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has appointed an independent taskforce to advise the council for now, a complete takeover via commissioners is also a possibility.

He said: ‘I have made this clear and I said this in Parliament last week, if the taskforce comes back to me and they say, actually, the council is still not coping and it’s not up to this job, then I won’t hesitate to take further action, including taking over the council if that’s what is necessary.’

The appointment of a taskforce to assist Kensington & Chelsea RLBC with long-term recovery work following Grenfell was announced by Mr Javid last week.

But the secretary of state explained that for the Government to take away the powers of a democratically elected council is ‘a big thing to do’, but added that ‘it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.’

When pressed on whether the Government will provide financial support to councils that are carrying out fire safety work on buildings, Mr Javid pledged to provide them with the money that they require.

He said: ‘Come and talk to us and we will make sure that you get the financial support you need so that the work definitely happens.’

However, he did not answer Mr Peston’s question about where the funds will come from and whether the DCLG’s pledge for funding has the backing of the treasury and chancellor.

Addressing Parliament yesterday, the first secretary of state Damian Green clarified that the Government’s offer of financial support is only for those councils that can prove that they cannot afford to fund the necessary safety work on their own.

He said: ‘If the fire service recommends that something needs to be done for safety reasons, the local authority will be the first port of call to pay for it.

‘If a local authority can show that it cannot afford it, central Government will obviously then step in. That is a matter for local authorities and the fire service in the first instance.’

Mr Green also reiterated that the taskforce appointed to Kensington & Chelsea is purely advisory and does not have any executive powers. It will report to the communities secretary and not the council.