§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what use he intends to make of his sanction powers under part 1 of the Local Government Act 1988 in relation to Haringey council.
§ Mr. KeyOn 12 December 1990, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, served a notice under section 13 of the Local Government Act 1988 on Haringey council, setting out his view that in 1989–90 the authority had failed to meet the specified financial objective in carrying out building cleaning.
My right hon. Friend has now considered the response which the authority has made to the section 13 notice, and which has acknowledged the failure to meet the specified financial objective in 1989–90. The authority has indicated that it has decided to put the work out to tender again, with a start date for the new contracts on 1 January 1992.
My right hon. Friend has concluded that the scale of the deficit incurred in 1989–90 and the need to ensure that the performance of this work is placed on a firm financial basis as soon as possible make it appropriate for him to make further use of his sanction powers. He has therefore today made a direction under section 14 of the 1988 Act, requiring the authority to complete a re-tendering exercise for the work by 1 January 1992.