TOWN Hall chiefs have been told there is ‘no excuse’ for blocking the publication of non-confidential council reports ahead of a scrutiny committee meeting over a ‘highly risky’ investment.

In July, Conservative councillors Nigel Balding, Carol Benson, Ken Critchley and Mark Jervis ‘called-in’ the decision of the Labour-run council’s cabinet to spend £63.5 million to buy and fund a new solar farm near Doncaster.

The call-in means that the decision has to be scrutinised to see if it was made properly with all the relevant information available.

Members of the scrutiny committee have a week to read the reports and ask any preliminary questions before the committee meeting at the Town Hall this Friday.

Reports to council committees are often in two parts – part one must be published on the council’s website and, if necessary, there is a part two which is exempt due to confidentiality.

Cllr Balding, leader of the Opposition group, says that he was very surprised to be informed that part one of his report would not be made available to the public, even though it ‘could be checked to ensure’ it contained no confidential information.

He says the reason given for not publishing the report from the Conservative councillors is that it seems likely that the scrutiny committee will want to discuss this report in private.

Cllr Balding said: “I understand why Labour might not want to discuss our report openly because it highlights an embarrassing lack of scrutiny by members of cabinet who are supposed to check proposals before spending our money.

“But I disagree with their approach, there is no excuse for blocking the publication of non-confidential council reports particularly where it is in the public interest.

“Our report exposes cabinet for failing to see fundamental flaws in its financial model and investment strategy, or to even see basic problems with completeness and accuracy.

“It demonstrates that this £63.5 million investment is highly risky and there is every chance that it could become another failure like Together Energy.

“This gamble equates to £600 per household in Warrington, or approximately 58 per cent of the council tax raised in any one year.

“Anything like this can have a massive and long-lasting impact on Warrington residents. It should not be nodded-through as one item of a full agenda for a cabinet meeting where, on this occasion, members struggled to make themselves heard in a particularly noisy environment.”

Council leader Cllr Russ Bowden and deputy Cllr Cathy Mitchell did not wish to comment on the matter.

The council says agenda items one to four will be considered under part one, in public, while agenda items five to eight are due to considered under part two, in private.

The scrutiny committee meeting will be held at the Town Hall at 5pm on Friday.

A council report to the committee says, given that any verbal evidence in support of the call-in is likely to raise matters which are covered by the confidential report, and in view of the fact that the response of the cabinet member is also a confidential report, it is recommended that the ‘whole of the substantive call-in process’, including the relevant reports, ‘be taken in part two of the meeting’.

It adds that members are therefore ‘requested not to comment on the detail of the call-in or to divulge any confidential information’ until part two of the agenda.

The committee will be required to reach a decision based upon any relevant information provided to it.

It can decide to offer no advice, in which case the decision may be implemented without delay, or it can offer advice to the cabinet for consideration, or it can refer the matter to full council for advice, in ‘limited circumstances’.

A referral to council for advice should only be used in ‘exceptional circumstances’, where the committee does not feel it is within its remit to consider the call-in.