COUNCILLOR URGES TRANSPARENCY OVER TIE-UP BETWEEN NELC AND ENGIE

Cllr Wheatley - demand for openness 

A CALL has come for the curtain to be lifted on the shared activities of North East Lincolnshire Council and its French-owned private sector partner.

Cllr Kathryn Wheatley, who is Labour's only  representative in Cleethorpes' Croft Baker ward, made her appeal at this month's  meeting of NELC's audit and governance committee.

She insisted: "There needs to be more transparency."

NELC pays Engie more than £12-million a year for its services, but there is very little scrutiny over how the monies are allocated or any aspects of the decision-making process.

Cllr Wheatley is also miffed that no member of the Labour Group has been offered a seat in discussions between chiefs from NELC and Engie.

"There should be a balance of political opinion," she declared. "Otherwise governance is compromised."

Audit committee chairman Tim Render said similar observations had been made by the Labour Group leader, Cllr Matthew Patrick, at a previous meeting.

He said her comments would be "noted".

The Grimsby News says: Cllr Wheatley is absolutely right. The tie-up between NELC and Engie may well be advantageous to both parties - and also to council taxpayers - but, alternatively,  it may be riddled with flaws. Unless, there is openness, we will never know. For that reason, the accounts should be  published and policies and decisions should be shaped within a forum that is open to both the public and the Press. As for Mr Render's response, it was lamentable. It is the role of his audit and governance committee to shine a light - not to keep things hidden from public view. He should have supported Cllr Wheatley's appeal instead of shunting it into the long grass.