South Tyneside Council to ‘vigorously defend’ Thurrock solar claim

A council says it will “vigorously defend” itself against a potential financial claim from a financially troubled local authority.

South Tyneside Council, along with Stockton Borough Council and 21 other local authorities, could be sued by Thurrock Council in Essex over investments in solar farms that have led to huge losses.

A spokesperson for South Tyneside said it was “aware that Thurrock is considering legal action against the company” and considers this to be “completely unwarranted”.

Stockton Borough Council confirmed it was “considering our next steps”.

Thurrock, in south Essex, effectively went bankrupt two years ago after borrowing and investing hundreds of millions of pounds and racking up £1.5 billion in debt.

It received valuations for its solar investments from the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), which is owned by local councils.

The authority “believes that APSE’s valuations of the solar assets, on which they allowed the council to rely, were negligent and overvalued these assets”.

APSE said it completely rejected Thurrock’s statement that valuations “resulted in significant financial losses to Thurrock with negative consequences for taxpayers”.

Thurrock Council told the BBC that the potential claim was against a representative group of councils who are APSE members, to reduce the impact and costs of the legal action for all councils involved.

But Mo Baines, chief executive of APSE, said this would lead to “significant legal costs for other councils, which we believe have no value whatsoever”.

She said she remains “hopeful that a positive resolution will be reached.”