MP Helen Jones has called on Warrington Borough Council to make public the findings of a governance review of libraries and leisure organisation LiveWire.
The Warrington North MP says the report – instigated by the council last year – has now been completed.
Its findings should be made public, she says, so that people can see how the problems associated with the public interest company have been addressed.
She said: “We all remember the fiasco which surrounded LiveWire’s handling of the library consultation and the subsequent revelations that one of their projects was under constructions without the firm involved having signed a contract, an internal audit describing the project as having minimal assurance and the same audit saying that a significant number of keys controls did not exist.
“Now the long awaited report has been completed I call on the council to make public its findings and what it feels LiveWire needs to do to improve.”
Ms Jones said no-one had ever accepted responsibility for “a long list of mismanagement” last year.
“There remains a real issue here about people spending public money but not being accountable when things go wrong.
“People can sack their councillor or their MP via the ballot box if they disagree with what they’ve done but the LiveWire board and senior management have sailed on regardless.”
A Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said: “The council commissioned an independent review of the governance of LiveWire in order to benchmark against the best practices within community interest companies. We have received the report and have requested that the LiveWire board produce a response and plan, to its findings.
“We look forward to discussing the response within the next few weeks. The report does not indicate any major failings, but as with all organisations, there are areas for improvement.”
7 Comments
Don’t these reports end up getting leaked?
Why do they announce inquiries into matters of justifiable public interest and then fail to disclose the detail of those inquiries? It gives the public little confidence in those arranging the investigation and fosters mistrust of the process. Seemingly, there was/is some debate on the remit of this inquiry; all the more reason to be open and transparent, in keeping with the Council Leader’s undertaking when he came into office, about the outcome.
Careful with what you suggest Mr Kennedy? The censors are out in force again, deleting any criticism of the MP, no doubt after being leant on. I’d love to know just who is paying these legal fees. Us taxpayers?
If you want your posts leaving in public display please post in your own name instead of hiding behind the curtains – then you can face the conequences of your actions instead of us! No one is paying any legal fees to anyone btw!
The comment on legal fees was not directed at WW Gary? The question was posed at who pays the for the legal fees incurred by the MP for legal action taken against local media outlets. The MP? Or taxpayers? I should have been clearer and so I’m happy to correct that now. But you have at least confirmed that pressure is being placed upon you which is pretty outrageous to say the least.
I haven’t confirmed anything about pressure – I just believe if people want to make negative comments about other people you should be prepared to put your own name to it and stand by what you say.
I have to with every story I write – so if you want to comment on items you should be prepared to put your name to it – or at the very least give the publisher your name and contact details – that is the rule for anything that appears on the letters page of a newspaper. If you want your critical posts to remain in the public domain please forward your contact details.
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