Government hit squad to take three-year control of crisis-torn Yorkshire council

A GOVERNMENT hit squad is to take control of Doncaster Council with powers to override the town's elected mayor and hire and fire staff, in a bid to turn around 15 years of mismanagement at the failing authority.

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Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has announced measures – understood to be the toughest ever imposed on a council – after a damning Audit Commission report into the authority was described as the worst it had produced on a local authority in 30 years.

The raft of proposals include a team of three commissioners to oversee the running of the council, the appointment of Kirklees Council chief executive Rob Vincent to lead the authority, and a mentor for controversial Mayor Peter Davies.

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The programme is scheduled to last three years until the next round of mayoral elections takes place, but will also continue until the council is considered capable of running itself.

The Commission's snap emergency inspection was called in the wake of the Edlington child torture case. The report cited numerous scandals at the authority since the 1990s as causes for the political instability and "dysfunctional management".

Mr Pickles said: "After 15 years of failure, Doncaster people need to be properly served by their council. The dysfunctional politics, poor services and ineffective leadership, identified by the Audit Commission, all must be addressed."

The commissioners, who are yet to be appointed, will work about two days a month ruling on policy decisions and will have the power to appoint, discipline or dismiss officers.

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A non-executive Intervention and Recovery Board of five members will be established to monitor progress. They will work alongside the commissioners and send monthly reports to the Secretary of State, which will also be made public.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said it would cost 65,000 a year for the board and the commissioners and would be funded by Doncaster Council from its 450m budget.