'Right to know' about council-owned companies

Gary Ridley said he thought it was wrong some of the discussions were held in private

A council has been urged to be more transparent about the operation of companies it owns or part-owns, on the basis the public has "a right to know".

It follows a Coventry City Council meeting in which a number of discussions were held behind closed doors, because they were said to involve financial information required to be kept private by law.

Conservative group leader Gary Ridley objected to the move and said: “I think it’s wrong some of this information is being [kept] private.”

The Labour leader of the authority, George Duggins, said the council was transparent, but it was agreed future meetings may discuss some of the companies more openly.

Discussions about the performance of Coombe Abbey hotel, Tom White Waste, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre and the Growth Hub have been held in private.

Ridley's move to get them discussed in an open chamber was backed by fellow Conservative Julia Lepoidevin, who said she was “deeply, deeply concerned and feel that the public should know".

Labour cabinet member Jim O’Boyle also said he could not see why the Growth Hub papers needed to be kept private.

He said he was surprised, pointing out information was in the public domain and that he thought Ridley was “absolutely right”.

Five other Labour members of the scrutiny committee did not back the move, but the meeting agreed to discuss the companies openly when accounts are filed at the end of the year.

Council officers also agreed reports on the Growth Hub could be public in future.

Duggins said it was an “inevitability” that the main issues around the performance of the council’s investment management company were in its private report. 

This was “because of the fact of the commerciality in particular around Coombe and Tom White Waste,” he said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.