A series of redactions will have to be made before Liverpool Council can release information it holds into a highly controversial match day car park company.
City solicitor Dan Fenwick said the local authority was “minded to publish” the report it has on the Beautiful Ideas Company (BiCo) following an investigation by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO found the council had 'incorrectly withheld' the report.
Mr Fenwick told a meeting of the audit committee at Liverpool Town Hall that following the ICO’s decision on the “previous refusal” to release the council’s internal audit report, the local authority was unlikely to challenge the ruling and was “likely to comply” with a push to publish the information.
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The monitoring officer did say however this would be subject to “necessary redactions” being made to the document. It is thought these relate primarily to personal information.
Warbreck Councillor Alan Gibbons said the report being released came at a time when there are “a number of worrying developments” about how public money was being used by Liverpool Council. The initial Cunard Building probe was launched into BiCo in 2018.
The company was set up by the council in 2014 to manage matchday car parks in north Liverpool used by Liverpool and Everton fans. The revenue was intended to be used to help the community.
Earlier this week, Mayor Joanne Anderson said the mishandling of the report represented “historical poor practice” at the council and said she had asked Mr Fenwick to conduct a thorough investigation. Rebecca Neill, newly installed head of internal audit at Liverpool Council, told the committee: “This matter will be dealt with.”
She added the process would be as “open and transparent as we can be” and if there were “a solid basis for allegations they will be investigated in full. Ms Neill did say to her knowledge, no new allegations had been made.
Asked by opposition leader Cllr Richard Kemp, Mr Fenwick said he “can’t really answer” as to whether the report had been referred to Merseyside Police. Cllr Alfie Hincks, who raised the matter at audit committee back in July, said: "This carbuncle, this cyst has been going on since 2014.
“The report has been going since 2018. Councillors I respect resigned from the Labour Party because of this.
“This is a journey where people have put in complaints and it has been kicked into the long grass.” Cllr Gibbons also asked Mr Fenwick to provide a written response to what redactions would be needed before the report could be released publicly.
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