Warrington Borough Council could be sued by Thurrock

It comes amid a legal wrangle over botched solar farm investments that cost Thurrock Council an estimated £200m – and effectively bankrupted it in the process. The southern authority incurred the eye-watering loss after ploughing money into more than 50 energy-generating sites that turned out to be worth far less than it believed.

Thurrock is now threatening to take legal action against a clutch of councils across the country as part of a dispute with the organisation that valued the assets. Warrington Borough Council is one of those that has been targeted because of its membership of the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE).

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) – which first uncovered the solar farm scandal and has charted it for the past four years – Thurrock is poised to sue 23 of its fellow local authorities in an attempt to recoup £50m of its losses.

APSE is reported to have made valuations of the farms in which Thurrock Council invested based on information provided by their then owner, Rockfire Capital.  

The association – which has more than 250 local authority members – has previously said there were no mistakes in its own calculations.

Thurrock says it has selected the near two dozen councils on its legal hit list because of their “consistent involvement as active members of APSE throughout the period when the valuations were given”, TBIJ has reported.

TBIJ reports that if Thurrock succeeds in any legal action, it intends to argue that every member of APSE – which is a non-profit body – should be liable.  If all of those members had to split the bill equally, it would cost them just under £200,000 each.

Warrington Borough Council did not wish to comment and pointed to the comment by APSE.

Meanwhile, APSE – which describes itself as “a networking community that assists local authorities who are striving to improve their frontline services” – repeated a statement it first issued last week following comments made by Thurrock Council, in which the association expressed dismay at the move made by the local authority.

“APSE is extremely disappointed that in the midst of a pathway to resolving a complex and costly dispute – one that risks embroiling over 250 local councils in a legal matter – Thurrock Council has chosen to issue a press release which risks undermining sensitive discussions with our member local councils. This is even more regrettable because Thurrock are fully aware that APSE’s governance board is to meet to discuss next steps in an emergency meeting.

“The contents of the press release are entirely rejected by APSE. It is highly disingenuous to suggest that APSE has not gone to great lengths to engage in dispute resolution.

“As these matters are the subject of legal dispute, making such public statements, as made by Thurrock, risks undermining fairness and transparency, and opens up the potential for further legal action, which APSE may now need to consider.

“APSE will not therefore be issuing any further comment at this time.”

Thurrock Council leader John Kent said in a statement : “Thurrock Council promised its residents, as well as commissioners and the government, that it will leave no stone unturned in its attempts to recover public money that was lost through its well-publicised poor investments.

“While our primary focus is on recovering money from those who sought to line their own pockets from the public purse, we have a duty to consider all lines of recovery.  This includes pursuing those organisations whose incorrect advice also contributed to the council’s decision to make the poor investments.

“Regrettably, the advice that APSE provided on valuation (relied upon by the council) was wrong and gave the council a confidence in its decision to make its investments that did not reflect the reality of the situation.  This in turn led to a course of events that cost Thurrock residents millions of pounds.

“It is extremely concerning that APSE, in undertaking advisory work on commercial matters, has not had in place appropriate safeguards to limit the financial exposure and liability to its member local authorities.”

“We are fully aware of the huge financial pressures facing local government, and we have no desire to increase that burden, but we do need APSE to take responsibility for the advice they provided and to help right those wrongs for the people of Thurrock.”