Council refuses to reveal cost of failed sale of leisure company
Richard Evans, local democracy reporter
Denbighshire Council has refused to reveal the cost to taxpayers of the failed deal to sell council-owned Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL).
On Wednesday April 30 the council revealed investors River Capital had pulled out of the deal, with Denbighshire Leisure Limited (DLL) accusing anonymous councillors of leaking confidential information to the media.
The proposed £1.5m sale of the public asset was agreed behind closed doors and attracted criticism for a lack of transparency, with former cabinet member Cllr Gwyneth Ellis resigning.
Other concerns raised by councillors included a lack of information, the distribution of company shares for staff, a loss of control, and the privatisation of the company.
Incurred costs
Denbighshire Council has confirmed they had incurred costs as a result the failed deal.
But both Denbighshire County Council and DLL declined to reveal how much has been paid out to solicitors and consultants.
A council spokeswoman commented: “The council can confirm that it has incurred costs on legal and other professional advisors.
“This advice will be relevant to any future operating model that may be considered by the council.”
When pressed again on whether it was in the public interest to reveal the costs, the spokeswoman added: “We are not in a position to provide that information at this time.”
‘Commercially sensitive’
A spokeswoman for Denbighshire Leisure Ltd said the company wouldn’t comment as the information was “commercially sensitive”.
DLL runs eight leisure centres, the SC2 Water Park in Rhyl, the 1891 Restaurant and Bar at Rhyl’s theatre, Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl Town Hall, North Wales Bowls Centre, Nova in Prestatyn, and Ruthin Craft Centre and its Cafe R eatery, employing well over 500 members of staff.
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“Council refuses to reveal”, “agreed behind closed doors”!!! Who the hell do these people think they are? They are public servants!! They are there to serve the taxpayer without any secrecy. All council knowledge belongs to the taxpayer. They should be ousted.
Commercial sensitivity matters. If companies can’t negotiate with government without those negotiations being made available to their competitors many won’t enter into negotiations at all, which means taxpayers end up paying more. It’s the job of Audit Wales not bored pensioners on Fakebook to decide if a deal offers taxpayer value for money.
I’m not seeing the relevance of “commercial sensitivity”. There’s no need to know what the negotiations were, just what those negotiations cost. I think its entirely reasonable to expect the local authority to account for: consultancy fees; legal fees; staff costs and any other expenses incurred.
Frank wants everything published.
Frank wants transparency in everything the council does. We pay their wages so they work for us. Everything to do with council business is the taxpayers’ business too. They answer to us NOT the other way around.