Thurrock council hid losses as it gambled millions on risky investments

Official report criticises Tory-run authority’s dysfunctional leadership and says it tried to silence critics

Bankrupt Thurrock council recklessly gambled hundreds of millions of pounds on risky commercial investments while covering up evidence of its losses and attempting to silence critics, a devastating official review has concluded.

The government-commissioned report published on Thursday said the Tory-run council’s financial collapse in 2022 was the culmination of years of dysfunctional leadership characterised by complacency, denial, and what the review called “unconscious incompetence”.