Empty homes issue still shows decision makers in a bad light
IT would appear that life is returning to normal here in the Rossendale Valley.
No, not the lifting of frankly pointless restrictions this week - but the return of the borough council’s Empty Homes Scandal to public debate.
The frankly catastrophic project is something the Labour members of Rossendale Council wish really would just go away.
Conservative councillors, however, are ensuring that doesn’t happen - even if nothing productive seems to come from the endless blame game which dominates council meetings whenever it is discussed.
A short recap: Back in 2011, the councils of East Lancashire signed up to get government funding to improve many poor quality homes across the area. In theory, a good thing to do.
A private firm, AAAW, was brought in by Rossendale Council - which despite being one of the smallest authorities in the project, took the lead on running it - to administer the project.
AAAW went bust in January 2015, leaving Rossendale Council responsible for the project, and holding the cheque book.
For reasons which have never been fully understood, the collapse of AAAW was never made public until the summer of 2015.
Five years, two independent investigations and a still-running police probe on, and the project continues to be a drain on the council’s finances.
Latest estimates say it has cost the council £6m, and could rise by another £2m as the council finds itself paying out time and again to wrap the project up.
Local Conservatives have consistently tried to hold the local Labour leadership to account, but with limited success.
After all, it’s a bit rich for local Tories to say this project is being funded at the expense of other local services when they also have supported, and indeed encouraged people to vote for, a national Conservative government which has halved local council budgets.
But austerity isn’t an excuse Labour can hide behind when it comes to being held to account for something which is little short of a scandal. And to be fair, they don’t. They use three other excuses when trying to close down conversations.
The first is that the project was agreed to in principle back when the Tories last ran the council. To which the answer should be: so what? There are many other things Labour changed when it took office from the Tories - indeed, what would be the point of voting for a new party to run the council if nothing changed?
Look at the Spinning Point development - that was a complete U-turn on previous Tory policy, shutting down Haslingden baths to help fund a development which will now never be completed.
The second excuse is that two independent investigations have concluded that normal processes weren’t followed and councillors weren’t kept in the loop as they should have been.
This provides an explanation of sorts for how this was allowed to happen, but it also poses questions of the Labour leadership in Rossendale.
This was a project which, in total, was the equivalent of half of the council’s annual budget. We’re talking big money.
It seems remarkable that Labour councillors weren’t demanding monthly updates, and asking questions, about the scheme which they were responsible for.
After all, as Tories point out, it’s why cabinet members of Rossendale Council receive a special responsibility allowance.
The third excuse is that it can’t be discussed because it’s still subject of a police probe.
Four years on. Lancashire Police have very little to say about the matter, so maybe it’s time to ask questions of police and crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw about what’s taking so long, and what level of activity is ongoing.
At the heart of this scandal is whether or not voters can trust the local authority to administer large-scale projects. For as long as this trio of excuses are used by Labour, it’s very hard for people to conclude the answer is yes.