With the financial health of councils deteriorating fast, it’s little wonder intervention has become a hot topic for discussion. Published in these pages a few weeks ago, the reflections of members and officers who’ve experienced intervention from different perspectives makes for fascinating reading. It also confirmed attitude is all. Accepting the need for intervention and channelling energy into rebuilding, rather than fighting, it is a common factor in councils who have successfully turned themselves around.

Two decades on from the Government’s first best value intervention, commissioners remain its preferred way of dealing with council failure. I’m struck that 15 years on from my own experience at the receiving end of intervention, the individuals involved then are still being drafted in today. While many have a wealth of experience and expertise to lend, it does indicate the limited pool available to draw from.