Some responsibilities to return to Rotherham Council

Rotherham Council will regain responsibility for a number of services after intervention from Whitehall last February.

Five government appointed commissioners took control of all executive functions, and some key non-executive functions, in February 2015 following the a report from Louise Casey that found widespread failings in governance and service delivery.

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has confirmed that some powers will return to the Council, but has also warned that significant further improvements are needed before full powers are restored.

Services returning to Council control include: education, public health, leisure services, customer and cultural services, housing, planning and transport policy, building regulation and financial services.

The Council will also take control of budgets for all of these areas.

Clark said: “Louise Casey’s report into Rotherham council made shocking reading – we must do everything we can to prevent those failings ever being repeated.

“In the last 11 months, Rotherham has made improvements and so I have proposed to transfer control over some functions back from the commissioners to democratically-elected councillors.

“But it’s clear there are still significant challenges to overcome before the council can fully regain the public’s confidence and trust, and so it is right that Sir Derek Myers [Lead Commissioner] and his team remain in place.”