Liverpool City Council is set to release a long-awaited report into a community interest company which highlights 'poor practice.'
The council launched a probe into the Beautiful Ideas Company (BiCo) in 2018 following allegations of poor practice. BiCo was launched by the council in 2014 to manage matchday car parks in north Liverpool used by Liverpool and Everton fans. The revenue was to be used to help the community.
The council is now set to release an internal audit report following an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO found that the council had 'incorrectly withheld' the report.
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The matter was referred to the ICO by freelance journalist Matt O'Donoghue, who requested a copy of the audit report in January 2021 under the Freedom of Information Act.
Three Labour councillors were linked to BiCo in the past. One acted as a director from 2014 to 2018 and two were advisors.
In 2018 the council announced that the city's audit team had launched an investigation into BiCo. Veteran Labour councillor and former council leader Frank Prendergast quit the party in 2017 over concerns he said he had over the management of BiCo.
Yesterday the Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson told the ECHO that the internal audit report would now be released following a request by the ICO.
She said: "The Liverpool City Council report into the Beautiful Ideas Company highlights examples of historical poor practice within this council. As is only right, we will be complying with the ICO’s request within the appropriate timescale.
"When elected as Mayor, I pledged to increase the council’s commitment to transparency, accountability, and scrutiny – I stand by this.
"I have written to the council’s Monitoring Officer to request a thorough investigation to identify any behaviour in this report which demonstrates a breach of procedures or codes of conduct, and for the appropriate action to be taken.
"This will include a review of any procedural errors, so that the council’s processes can be amended and improved to mitigate against this happening again.
"I stood for mayor because I deeply care about this city. Whilst I remain committed to rectifying the mistakes and wrongdoing from years gone by, I am confident that the council is a very different place today."
The content and release of the internal audit report were raised at a meeting of the city's audit committee in July by councillor Alfie Hincks.
Speaking at the meeting, he said: "My first question is, can this report come to light. My second question is that there is something like £78,000 in that account that should be with immediate effect be put into the three areas it was committed to. They are County ward, Anfield and the most needed which is Everton.
"I am sure that money would go down well and be appreciated, particularly in Everton ward. So how can we get hold of it ( the money) and can we have this official report."
The release of the BiCo report will be discussed at a meeting of the city's audit committee today. Cllr Alan Gibbons, who asked for the matter to be brought before audit committee, said to the ECHO : “This long-running probe has been kept under wraps for too long. It should not have taken the ICO’s intervention to force the council to come clean.
“We need to know what happened, who was responsible and what action is being taken to address any wrongdoing. The first step is making the council’s internal reports public for scrutiny.
“It is alarming that well over a year into the council’s so-called ‘improvement journey’ we are still facing opposition to basic transparency.”
An ICO spokesperson said: “We’ve investigated Liverpool City Council’s handling of the request and found that it had incorrectly withheld the audit reports.
“The Council now has 35 days to comply with the ICO decision. If it does not agree with our decision, it can appeal to the First tier Tribunal.”
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