King's Lynn innovation centre loan: Council votes to end inquiry

Investigations uncovered a string of irregularities surrounding the construction of the King's Lynn Innovation centre

A council leader has challenged colleagues to call the police if they have evidence of wrongdoing over failings in a construction project.

The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk narrowly voted to draw a line under the King's Lynn Innovation Centre (Klic) "fiasco".

The authority loaned £2.75m to Norfolk & Waveney Enterprise Services (NWES) to build it, but it was not repaid.

Tory leader Brian Long told opposition members to "put up or shut up".

A motion to discontinue inquiries into the affair was voted through by 25 to 23 with two abstentions at a special council meeting.

It comes after independent investigator Alison Lowton ended her probe early saying the council had already done a thorough job examining the issue, although she had stated she would only have access to information held by the council.

Council leader Brian Long attacked 'conspiracy theorists' seeking to continue investigations into the KLIC affair

Two previous internal probes raised concerns over alleged conflicts of interest after NWES employed a company owned by one of its directors to oversee the project.

The council leader at the time the loan was agreed, Nick Daubney, was also a former NWES employee although he removed himself from meetings when the issue was discussed.

The inquiries also highlighted missing documents, questioned the legal agreements and a lack of due diligence prior to the council granting the loan.

'No sore will heal'

The KLIC building has since been valued at £2.4m, despite costing more than £6m to build.

The council took possession of the building after NWES defaulted on the loan in 2018.

At Thursday's meeting, opposition members said the independent investigator had not fulfilled her terms of reference and that key individuals working for NWES at the time had not been interviewed.

Labour councillor Charles Joyce said: "No sore will heal until the corruption is dug out of it. Where did the money go? Who are the guilty men and women?"

Green Party councillor Michael de Whalley described the issue as "the KLIC fiasco".

But Mr Long told the meeting "until someone's put in the stocks on the Tuesday Market Place, we won't have concluded this".

He said "conspiracy theorists" wanting an inquiry should contact fraud teams with evidence.