Government 'monitoring' district council, says PM

The prime minister has said the government is "monitoring" the situation at Ashfield District Council.

Jason Zadrozny, former leader of the Nottinghamshire authority, which is run by Ashfield Independents, is awaiting sentence after being found guilty of nine counts of fraud and four counts of tax evasion last month.

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Ashfield's Reform UK MP Lee Anderson claimed the authority was being "run by criminals" and asked the government to send in commissioners.

It comes as 10 Ashfield Independents councillors who quit the party have formed a new opposition group, the District Alliance.

Zadrozny was accused of setting up a fake heritage group to defraud Nottinghamshire County Council out of thousands of pounds.

Prosecutors also alleged he had failed to pay tax on four rental properties.

Following his conviction, he was told by the judge he would be sentenced on 27 November and was "at risk of an immediate custodial sentence".

He then stepped down as council leader.

In Parliament, Anderson raised concerns about the conduct of some elected members.

He said: "Could the prime minister please, please, send in the commissioners to root out this corruption and put these people where they belong."

Burnham said Angela Rayner, the communities secretary, would meet with Anderson to discuss his concerns.

"What he's just said in this house is extremely serious. We must have the highest standards of conduct from local authorities and elected councillors," Burnham said.

"We are monitoring the situation, I won't say any more than that at this stage but he has the clear offer of a meeting."

Councillor Samantha Deakin took over as the council's leader when Zadrozny stepped down.

But some members of the new District Alliance group said they were unhappy after Zadrozny remained as a councillor and was given a seat on the authority's planning committee.

Councillor David Shaw, who represents Hucknall West, has been appointed leader of the opposition.

He said the decision to appoint Zadrozny to the authority's planning committee was "the final straw".

"She [Deakin] was advised not to appoint Jason Zadrozny by officers at the council," he said.

"Once we found out that was the case, that was it. Enough was enough.

"The previous leader told us he was innocent and clearly, he wasn't.

"We took it on face value at the time but once the verdict came through, that was it."

A council spokesperson said decisions about councillor membership, committee appointments and committee structures "are matters for elected councillors".

They added: "Council officers provide professional advice, guidance and administrative support to support processes.

"While councillors will consider officer advice as part of their decision-making, they are not required to follow it.

"The responsibility for making these decisions rests solely with elected councillors, who may reach a different conclusion having considered all relevant information."

Shaw said the new District Alliance group would "hold the administration to account".

"I've got a group of people that really want to move forward," he said. "We want to take the council in a more open direction.

"We've got to look after our staff, they are paramount to the services we deliver.

"The morale at the moment is rock bottom and it is my job to tell them that there is hope."

The Ashfield Independents have 18 councillors remaining, meaning the party is one councillor away from losing its majority.

Samantha Deakin has so far declined the BBC's request for an interview.

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