BCP Council 'owes nothing' in huge legal claim from Thurrock

Thurrock Borough Council, in Essex, has launched a huge claim against 23 local authorities in its bid to reclaim £40million. 

The claim is against 23 members of the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) after Thurrock council said a “standstill” agreement was not reached between all parties. 

Thurrock’s claim relates to the valuation by APSE of investments made by Thurrock with an individual called Liam Kavanagh and companies associated with him operating under the name Rockfire Energy. 

It argues that valuations of solar assets undertaken on a commercial basis by APSE and which APSE allowed the council to rely upon, were “negligent and overvalued” those assets.

Graham Farrant, BCP's chief executive (Image: Richard Crease)

BCP Council’s chief executive Graham Farrant said he believes his authority does not owe any money to the cash-strapped Thurrock council. 

Mr Farrant said: “We are aware that BCP Council has been named by Thurrock council, alongside a number of other local authorities, as part of legal proceedings.  

“This is a very disappointing action as we do not believe that BCP Council owes any liability to Thurrock council for their historical investment decisions. 

“We are working alongside APSE member councils on the response to this action.” 

APSE’s spokesman has said the association will defend BCP Council and the 22 other councils against the “egregious attack” from Thurrock. 

He said it is a “remarkably audacious choice” for Thurrock’s current leadership to rescue their own “faults” from other councils “who are not to blame for Thurrock’s losses”. 

John Kent, Thurrock’s leader, said: “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.  

“We will immediately be applying to the courts to pause the action while we pursue Kavanagh, but we had no choice but to file the claim by the deadline, or risk never having the opportunity to recover Thurrock’s money." 

Thurrock council declared itself effectively bankrupt around two years ago after losing £200million from the deals between 2017 and 2020.