Maher hits back over Watson secrecy claim
A TOWN centre councillor renewed his war of words with Sefton Council as he again accused the local authority of secrecy.
Cllr Sir Ron Watson CBE, who represents Dukes Ward in Southport, Merseyside, has repeatedly called for councillors to be given access to papers seen by the Cabinet and raised the issue after a report on the sale of councilowned assets was not made widely available.
The Conservative representative said that councillors being unable to see those details “makes a mockery of local democracy”.
However, council leader Cllr Ian Maher hit back at the claims which he described as “propaganda”.
A council spokesman also issued a defence against the criticism, saying that only a small fraction of its reports are not made public and that the local authority “always complies with the law in relation to holding parts of its meetings in private and having reports exempt from publication”.
Mike Prendergast, who hopes to join Sir Ron as a Dukes Ward councillor next May, said that Conservative councillors have tried to obtain information or increase transparency on 24 occasions since the start of last year but each one has been refused.
He added: “There has never been a time when the talents of all members of any council need to be used in a co-operative and open manner and in this regard Sefton is going backwards when even its own councillors are having to put in requests under the Freedom of Information Act to find out what their own council is actually doing in a wide variety of areas.
“I will certainly be pressing with my colleagues to have a greater degree of openness in the future.”
Many of the complaints raised by Conservatives relate to the purchase of the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, but those in the cabinet have repeatedly said information cannot be shared publicly if it is “commercially sensitive”.
Responding, Cllr Maher said: “Once again Cllr Watson attempts to misinform local people with yet more Conservative propaganda.
“Commercially sensitive information has, for many years, been dealt with in this way within Sefton Council.
“Furthermore, if Cllr Watson and his Conservatives wish to constantly forward FOI requests to the council for their own political purposes, then that is their choice.”