Temperatures reached boiling point as members of Liverpool Council clashed over a car park company linked to city councillors.
An extraordinary meeting of the local authority was held this evening following the publication of a series of audit reports into the Beautiful Ideas Company (BICo) last month. It was confirmed earlier this week that three sitting city councillors investigated as part of a probe into the controversial matchday car parking company were told complaints against them had been dismissed.
Cllrs Nick Small, Steve Munby and Ann O'Byrne were three of five members facing complaints raised by Mayor Joanne Anderson in relation to their roles with BICo that ran car parks for Liverpool and Everton fans with the aim of raising funds for the local community. A fourth councillor has also been absolved while a fifth remains under investigation.
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The meeting, held an hour before the council’s regular meeting, came about following pressure from opposition groups, including the Liverpool Community Independents - made up of former Labour councillors - who put down a motion calling for an independent and “full and rigorous inquiry into the company and its relationship to Liverpool Council.”
Moving the motion, Cllr Alfie Hincks, of the Liverpool Community Independent group, described the company’s handling as a “scandal” which “paints a picture of mismanagement, misuse of public funds and sleaze.” He added that the probes into the car park and individuals linked to it could not be allowed to be turned into a “whitewash” and serious concerns remain about BICo, including reports some money was sent to firms in Salford.
Cllr Hincks said: “When there is evidence of misuse of public funds, this council should be held accountable for this.” Group leader Cllr Anna Rothery repeated the call for an independent investigation, saying the investigation ordered by Mayor Anderson should not have been conducted by officers.
She added: “If you have nothing to hide, then prove it.” Outlining the process around the investigation, Mayor Anderson said there had been historic poor practice in terms of record keeping and she had asked city solicitor and monitoring officer to instigate a probe to see if any of the members concerned had broken the council’s code of conduct and Nolan principles of public life.
She said she had “exhausted all the avenues available to me” and called on anyone with evidence of wrongdoing to report it to the authority, or in the case of criminality to the police. Mr Fenwick’s investigations ended owing to a lack of evidence, the meeting was told.
This didn’t satisfy opposition members however, with Cllr Alan Gibbons saying the only way the council could be returned to an "open, transparent and honest" organisation could only be achieved through an independent inquiry and the council could not be seen to be marking its own homework, to a round of applause from a busy public gallery. He added that some members on the Labour benches had told him they were “deeply uncomfortable” about BICo.
Green party group leader, Cllr Tom Crone, said despite living on the other side of the city, he had received questions for years on BICo and there was a "clear public interest" in an independent probe. The St Michaels ward member highlighted that this was a rare issue that had brought all the opposition groups together in agreement.
A motion on the way forward for the council following motions and amendments put down by the Liverpool Community Independents, Labour and Liberal Democrats was voted on following an hour-long debate. The full text of the adopted compromised motion, including calls for a report on how the authority better handles information in future is to be published in due course.
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