The headlines focused on the Secretary of State sending in commissioners to take over Tower Hamlets LBC. 

Leaving aside the rights or wrongs of the specific issues, one interesting issue in the immediate and the proposed further directions was the role of Officers.  The letter from DCLG prohibits any appointment to the Statutory Officer posts (Head of Paid Service, the designated S151 Finance Officer and Monitoring Officer) without prior written approval of the secretary of state, and the action plan requires by 1April next year replacement of the interim statutory officers with permanent appointments under the direction of the commissioners.

This gives a strong signal about the key role officers play in ensuring that local authorities fulfil their statutory duties and in particular that due process is followed and can be seen to be followed.  It also completes the 360 degree turn by the secretary of state.