COVENTRY City Council has been accused of a “cover-up“ over Ricoh stadium rent and ownership talks with the Sky Blues.
Councillor Kevin Foster, Conservative opposition leader, claims he has been told leading Labour councillors have been unusually invited to sign `confidentiality agreements' ­ to stop them publicly disclosing any details about the talks.
He had also tabled written questions about Ricoh negotiations, to be answered by council leaders in public at next Tuesday's council meeting.
But he claims he was astonished to be told the entire matter would be moved to the private part of the meeting, to be discussed in secret, in an “unprecedented“ move.
When he questioned why some issues could not be discussed in public, excluding any commercially confidential material, he received an emailed explanation from council lawyer Christine Forde marked `Private and confidential'.
It comes amid ongoing negotiations between the deficit-hit Division One football club and the joint owners of Ricoh management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) ­ the council and Alan Edwards Higgs Charity.
The club and its hedge fund owners want ACL to lower its £1.2million-ayear rent, and to buy a stake in ACL to get extra income from the stadium's commercial activities, including its hotel, conferences and concerts.
Council leader John Mutton has publicly stated the council's 50 per cent shares in ACL are not for sale, and the council would only authorise a buy-out of the Higgs Trust's shares that was in the interests of council taxpayers, and job creation plans around the stadium.
Coun Foster's written questions, available on next Tuesday's agenda on the council website, asked whether that was still the position; and what role Coun Mutton had played in rent talks (with council executives Martin Reeves and Chris West being ACL board members).
It follows reports in the Telegraph the Sky Blues had rejected an ACL offer to halve the rent to £650,000.
Coun Foster also questioned whether all councillors would be able to debate and vote on any agreement, and whether council leaders had set a threshold for future income from ACL.
Coun Foster accused Coun Mutton of avoiding “scrutiny of his involvement in an issue that is key to the future of Coventry City FC.“
He said it was “unprecedented“ for the council to indicate it would only answer written questions to council is a secret session, preventing the public from hearing the debate ­ and that the move should have been approved in public by councillors.
Coun Foster said: “This clumsy at tempt at a cover-up means that even before kick-off the leadership of the council has scored a spectacular own goal.“
He added: “Over recent months, Coun Mutton has made statements about the on-going situation in public, but now wants to hide behind closed doors.
“I accept a detailed financial breakdown of any proposals being made or a running commentary on sensitive negotiations cannot be provided in public session.
“Yet it is impossible to see the justification for no response being given, other than avoiding potential political embarrassment for the leader.“
Coventry City FC and ACL issued a joint statement saying talks on reaching a `mutually acceptable' rent level were progressing but had been delayed by the Olympics. No comment was offered on stadium ownership.
Councillor Kevin Foster, Conservative opposition leader, claims he has been told leading Labour councillors have been unusually invited to sign `confidentiality agreements' ­ to stop them publicly disclosing any details about the talks.
He had also tabled written questions about Ricoh negotiations, to be answered by council leaders in public at next Tuesday's council meeting.
But he claims he was astonished to be told the entire matter would be moved to the private part of the meeting, to be discussed in secret, in an “unprecedented“ move.
When he questioned why some issues could not be discussed in public, excluding any commercially confidential material, he received an emailed explanation from council lawyer Christine Forde marked `Private and confidential'.
It comes amid ongoing negotiations between the deficit-hit Division One football club and the joint owners of Ricoh management company Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) ­ the council and Alan Edwards Higgs Charity.
The club and its hedge fund owners want ACL to lower its £1.2million-ayear rent, and to buy a stake in ACL to get extra income from the stadium's commercial activities, including its hotel, conferences and concerts.
Council leader John Mutton has publicly stated the council's 50 per cent shares in ACL are not for sale, and the council would only authorise a buy-out of the Higgs Trust's shares that was in the interests of council taxpayers, and job creation plans around the stadium.
Coun Foster's written questions, available on next Tuesday's agenda on the council website, asked whether that was still the position; and what role Coun Mutton had played in rent talks (with council executives Martin Reeves and Chris West being ACL board members).
It follows reports in the Telegraph the Sky Blues had rejected an ACL offer to halve the rent to £650,000.
Coun Foster also questioned whether all councillors would be able to debate and vote on any agreement, and whether council leaders had set a threshold for future income from ACL.
Coun Foster accused Coun Mutton of avoiding “scrutiny of his involvement in an issue that is key to the future of Coventry City FC.“
He said it was “unprecedented“ for the council to indicate it would only answer written questions to council is a secret session, preventing the public from hearing the debate ­ and that the move should have been approved in public by councillors.
Coun Foster said: “This clumsy at tempt at a cover-up means that even before kick-off the leadership of the council has scored a spectacular own goal.“
He added: “Over recent months, Coun Mutton has made statements about the on-going situation in public, but now wants to hide behind closed doors.
“I accept a detailed financial breakdown of any proposals being made or a running commentary on sensitive negotiations cannot be provided in public session.
“Yet it is impossible to see the justification for no response being given, other than avoiding potential political embarrassment for the leader.“
Coventry City FC and ACL issued a joint statement saying talks on reaching a `mutually acceptable' rent level were progressing but had been delayed by the Olympics. No comment was offered on stadium ownership.