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14.12.04
Labour councillors have not been telling the truth over controversial £1
million payments being made to help sell off Alexandra Palace, say Lib Dem
councillors. The payments are for consultants to help turn the Palace
into a super-casino - plans which now look doomed to failure after the
Government was forced to slash the number of super-casinos it will
approve.
The payments were rushed through by Labour's ruling Executive under
"urgency" procedures in October, ensuring that they did not receive proper
and full public scrutiny.
The Liberal Democrats have pointed out that
there was nothing new in Labour's sell-off plans which required the use of
urgency powers, and that with proper planning the payments could have been
considered by all councillors. Labour used the excuse of 'urgency' to
block Lib Dem attempts to 'call in' the decision to have it reviewed by
the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Labour had claimed that the payments were in fact voted through at the
October Full Council meeting, saying in a recent statement that: "The
request for funding was agreed unanimously at the last Full Council
meeting on the 4th October." [Labour party press release]
However, the Council did not vote the money through. Members at the Full Council
meeting could not have agreed to any request for funding as the paperwork
was only tabled 'for information' rather than for any decision.
Furthermore, the paperwork tabled at the meeting did not specify the
£1m which has since been agreed by Labour. If it had, Lib Dems say that
due to their conflict of interest, Labour councillors who sit on the Pally
Board should not have voted anyway. If a substantive decision on Palace
and Park arose at Full Council, then councillors would have to be advised
that they would have to consider whether they were acting in their
"trustee" or "local authority" role.
Lib Dem Leader Neil Williams comments:
"Labour's claims about the procedures surrounding the one million pounds
procured for their super-casino plan are entirely false. The facts are
that one million pounds of extra money, without a tendering process, has
simply been signed off by Labour Executive members without giving
councillors the opportunity to debate on the funding. This is entirely
wrong, and the Chairman of the Ally Pally Board in particular, has shown a
disturbing lack of understanding of the position."
Lib Dem Ally Pally Spokesperson Cllr Bob Hare, adds:
"The end result of this sorry state of affairs is that one million pounds
could well be wasted. While all this was being rushed through, the
Government's controversial plans for super casinos have come spectacularly
off the rails. The only winners will be consultants, who will be laughing
all the way to the bank."
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