The large sums of money Liverpool City Council paid to lawyers and accountants in relation to the Bramley Moore project have been revealed.
The council spent £841,000 on professional fees after it agreed to help fund Everton FC's Bramley Moore stadium on the waterfront. Everton later sought alternative sources of funding and did not accept the proposed investment.
In May Everton agreed to pay £502,000 of the £841,000 incurred by Liverpool Council. In a joint statement, it was said an “amicable settlement” had been reached regarding the Bramley Moore project.
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The ECHO can now reveal the sums of money paid by the council to professional firms in relation to Bramley Moore. The local authority paid £228,910 to accountants Ernst and Young, and £261,199 to law firm DLA Piper.
The council also paid £8,500 to solicitors Walker Morris and £3,715 to a London based QC. The figures, released by the council in response to a recent Freedom of Information Act request, came to £502,325.
The above fees were described as being specifically linked to the Bramley Moore project. The council spent a total of £841,000 on professional fees.
Information about the remaining £339,000 spent on other matters including the Commonwealth Games bid is not available.
The local authority was ordered to conduct an investigation into how it incurred “significant expenditure” to investigate the possibility of a loan to Everton FC as the club sought funding options for its new ground over a three-year period.
The commissioners identified a 'failure of governance' and found the council acted 'without any formal council approval and without any budget provision approval.'
Earlier this month the ECHO revealed that Everton FC was not legally obliged to contribute to the fees. Letters from club chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale to the council revealed the club agreed to make a contribution to the fees out of 'goodwill.'
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing in relation to Everton's involvement in this matter. In May a cabinet report revealed that government-appointed commissioners accused the council of “failure of governance” in relation to the fees.
The ECHO understands that Everton has remained consistent in that there was no agreement reached on the liability of the due diligence fees incurred in setting up the funding deal.
Once Everton chose to seek funding from elsewhere the club entered into negotiations and reached an amicable settlement to meet costs which were reasonably incurred and attributable to the project funding.
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