A forensic audit report looking into potential wrong-doing at Northumberland County Council's development company should be released to the public - according to one of the county's residents.
Keith Dalton spoke at a meeting of Cramlington, Bedlington and Seaton Valley Local Area Council and asked councillors why the public had not seen the much-discussed KPMG report into Advance Northumberland.
Advance was set up to replace the much-maligned predecessor Arch, following concerns around its governance and spending.
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However in June 2021, the council's chief executive Daljit Lally raised further concerns about Advance in a report to the audit committee, warning it had inherited some of its problems from Arch. The report was commissioned by the council's former section 151 officer.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr Dalton said: "The report is out but it is not going to be released to the public. There is a lot of stigma hanging in the air.
"It was paid for by taxpayer money and the taxpayer should have the contents of the report. The report is with Northumberland County Council - why hasn't the contents been released to the public?
"The public are interested in what went on in the past, especially with Arch. There is a lot of deterrent that supposedly went on."
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The meeting's chairman, Coun Mark Swinburn, said he was aware of the report but did not know why the report had not been released to the public.
He added: "This is more of a full council question than a local area council question," but pledged to get Mr Dalton a report in writing.
A spokesman for Northumberland County Council told the Local Democracy Service: "The report was shared with Audit Committee. However it contains exempt information and will not be released to the public."
The report caused significant confusion earlier this year when the council's executive director of finance, Jan Willis, mistakenly claimed that the report was part of an "ongoing police investigation" and could not be released to the council's audit committee - but Northumbria Police said no such investigation had taken place.
The report was then shared with police who had no objections to it being shared with the audit committee - but it was not passed on to the public.
