East Riding Council have said they will “vigorously defend” themselves as Thurrock Council launches a £40m legal case against 23 local authorities.
Thurrock Council, a local authority in Essex, is suing 23 councils in an attempt to recoup loses made in a series of unsuccessful solar farm investments made between 2017 and 2020.
The 23 councils are all members of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), which Thurrock Council claims produced “negligent and overvalued” valuations in regards to solar farm sites. Thurrock Council say that as a result of APSE’s valuations, the council did not have adequate security for the value of the investments made. Thurrock Council believe the individual authorities, including East Riding Council are liable for their economic troubles.
Thurrock Council’s financial difficulties have been widely reported, with the council issuing a section 114 notice in December 2022. S114 notices, which are often referred to as ‘bankruptcy notices’, are issued when a council’s finances are so perilous that they cannot meet their spending commitments. Put simply, they’ve run out of money.
Since issuing the notice, Thurrock Council has been exploring ways of securing some much needed funds, hoping to recoup up to £40m from their new legal case.
Cllr John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, said:
“Since we raised our legal concerns about the valuations with APSE in September 2023, we have explained that the council has no option but to pursue the millions of pounds of public money that was lost through poor investments. APSE provided inaccurate valuations that gave the council misplaced confidence in its investments, and so they must take responsibility for that, otherwise why would anyone seek such advice in the first place?
“We know what a challenging time this is for all councils, and we never wanted to pursue individual councils, but unfortunately APSE didn’t have adequate insurance or protection in place, meaning that its member councils are liable for consequences of decisions taken by APSE.”
Reacting to Thurrock’s legal case, East Riding Council have told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:
“East Riding of Yorkshire Council along with 22 other local authorities has been named as a party to the proceedings and is intending, along with other local authorities, to vigorously defend the claim.”
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