Warrington Council leader survives no confidence motion

Labour leader Russell Bowden criticised the calling of the extraordinary meeting

A council leader has survived a no confidence motion brought following the collapse of an energy firm part-owned by the authority.

Conservative councillors tabled the motion against Warrington Borough Council's Labour leader Russell Bowden after Together Energy ceased trading.

Tory councillor Nigel Balding said the collapse was "too big to ignore" and the council needed a fresh start.

The motion was defeated at an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday.

Mr Bowden criticised the calling of the meeting and said the council should wait until the administrators had finished their work.

Councillor Bob Barr, of the Liberal Democrats group, raised concerns about the wording of the motion.

He said he did want the leader to resign, but not for what he called a "trumped up reason".

A number of Liberal Democrats chose to abstain, although two did support it.

Four motions in total were put forward - three by Conservative councillors and one by the Labour leader.

The Conservative motions called for an inquiry into Together Energy, a review of the council's investment strategy and a no confidence motion in the council's leader.

The Labour motion called for the council to write to the town's MPs to call for more funding from central government and for any opposition with an objection to the council's investment strategy to put forward an alternative budget.

Together Energy was 50% owned by the council when it ceased trading last month

The public meeting started with a 30-minute statement by Mr Bowden.

He said the council's investment strategy had been driven by funding cuts from central government.

The decision to invest in Together Energy was made with full advice and the company had contributed £5m to the council since the investment was made, he added.

He also said any investigation into Together Energy needed to take place once all the facts were known, following the administration process.

"When we've got the facts, we can have a proper discussion and I'll be accountable for the decisions made," he said.

Conservative councillor Ken Critchley, who put forward the two motions related to Together Energy, said he had "serious" due diligence concerns over the investment.

"Warrington Borough Council is not set up to be a hedge fund," he said. "It exists to provide services to the people of Warrington".

The three motions put forward by the Conservative groups were all defeated, while the Labour motion was carried.

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