A scathing letter from the town's MPs has slammed the borough council's "ineptitude" which they say could result in Ipswich missing out on millions of pounds of funding.
In a letter to council bosses, Tom Hunt and Dr Dan Poulter said they "have lost confidence" in relation to the authority's handling of the Town Deal and called for external consultants to help Ipswich "secure the necessary funding from Government".
The letter was sent to interim chief executive Helen Pluck on January 31 and references a letter sent to her predecessor Russell Williams in November about the MPs' concerns.
The letter signed by both MPs added: "Quite frankly, we have lost confidence in the borough council's ability to manage the Town Deal and despite our hard work to secure the maximum £25 million funding for the town, it is the ineptitude of Ipswich Borough Council which is letting the town down and may result in us losing a large amount of the hard-won money."
The letter continues: "To lose any of these projects through the incompetence of Ipswich Borough Council at this stage would be nothing short of embarrassing and would fail the people of Ipswich."
The Town Deal is a government scheme of funding for towns to boost economic productivity and growth.
Downing Street has agreed to provide up to £25m to help deliver 11 projects proposed by Ipswich Borough Council's Town Deal Board.
Helen Pluck, Ipswich Borough Council interim chief executive, said: "Civil Servants have assured us very recently that the £25m is not at risk.
"The Council is working hard with partners, the Town Deal Board, and civil servants to complete the necessary business cases to secure the release of the £25m Town Deal for Ipswich."
However, Mr Hunt and Dr Poulter have voiced "an undeniable sense of drift with a number of Town Deal projects for far too long."
Ipswich MP Tom Hunt said: "It’s very clear from the conversations I’ve had with ministers that there is concern from within Government when it comes to the performance of the Borough Council when it comes to the Town Deal.
"That much is clear. When it comes to the technical detail around the business cases progress has been far too slow.
"I’ve had concerns for some time and there is a long paper trail of me chasing progress. We’re at a point now though where time is of the essence and we must see a step change in approach."
Dr Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, added: "For me this is a matter of basic competence.
"There has been an undeniable sense of drift with a number of the Town Deal projects for far too long.
"It has been very difficult to go into bat as a local MP to get money for Ipswich when the Borough Council has dropped the ball.
"There is now an urgent need to engage consultants who are competent and know what they’re doing to get things back on track and ensure that Ipswich gets the money that Tom and I have fought for."
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