Shock over redacted Strand finance report
SEFTON Council has again been accused of secrecy over the financial position of the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle.
Cllr Sir Ron Watson accused the council of stonewalling his attempts to gain information after documents obtained through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request were heavily redacted.
Despite strong opposition from Southport councillors, Sefton bought the shopping centre for £32.5m in 2017.
Council leaders said the deal was carried out using a loan at no expense to the taxpayer and would generate income to limit the impact of cuts.
But unhappiness remains over the deal and flared up again last July when a cabinet report revealed that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors had valued the centre at £27.2m - more than £5m less than what it was bought for.
But those fears were again dismissed, with a council spokesman saying the figure was irrelevant unless the council was planning a sale.
He said that the centre had provided a £1.162m surplus to the council in that time.
After Sir Ron’s attempts to gain information using motion and questions at council meetings did not receive answers, he tried to obtain financial data with an FoI request, which was also refused.
A further request for a redacted version was finally accepted but Sir Ron was shocked when entire pages of the report were blacked out.
He said: “I took this as far as I could requesting the document on a redacted basis and the legal department had to concede that this should be provided but it’s page after page after page of blacked out figures and information.
“I also tried at the council and a question to the council leader to have a current financial statement based on the fact that we are three-quarters through the council year but once again this information was refused.
“There are numerous other issues where the same problem applies and never before in Sefton’s history have councillors been treated in this manner.”
Sefton Council declined to comment.
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