Judge refuses call by Tower Hamlets for judicial review over best value audit

The application for permission had previously been refused on the papers by Mr Justice Kenneth Parker at the end of August.

The council renewed its application and Mr Justice Goss held an oral hearing on 14 November. He also rejected the application.

Commenting on the decision, the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said: “Our case challenged the £1m cost of the audit and raises fundamental questions about the legal relationship between local and central government. We are disappointed that the judge refused permission for us to proceed to a full judicial review hearing.

“We are now fully engaged with responding to the Secretary of State's proposals and will continue to do all we can to ensure that our residents interests come first."

Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins said: “We are pleased that the courts have thrown out Tower Hamlets’ legal challenge for a second time. However, it is disappointing that local taxpayers are having to foot the bill for the Mayor’s legal costs. This reflects a culture of denial in the local authority about the dysfunctional governance of the mayor’s administration.”

The Communities Secretary told MPs on 4 November that he planned to send three commissioners into Tower Hamlets. This was after PwC’s inspection report found that the council had failed to comply with its best value duty in a number of areas.

The investigators concluded that there had been breaches in relation to grant-making, property deals, the use of media officers in the Mayor’s office, and the spending of authority monies on what amounted to political advertising for the benefit of the Mayor.

Tower Hamlets was given 14 days in which to make representations to Eric Pickles on the PwC report and his proposed intervention package.