Issue - meetings

The Chair of the New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal Inquiry Committee,

Councillor Chris Barnham, moved that the recommendations be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Bill Brown. Following a debate to which

Councillors Coughlin, Hilton and Hall and the Mayor contributed, there was a

formally agreed request to receive, subsequent to the meeting, a transcript of

the comments of Councillor Coughlin in order to check for possible factual

inaccuracies. Thereafter there was a reply by Councillor Barnham and it was:

RESOLVED that

(1) Lord Dyson’s Report on the New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal Independent

Inquiry, acknowledging its authority and independence be received;

(2 the report’s findings be welcomed, in particular that

“there was no impropriety, lack of due diligence or breach of a code of practice on the part of any Council officer or member in relation to:

(i)           the decisions to make a Compulsory Purchase Order and the

appraisal of the financial viability of Renewal’s scheme and its

ability to deliver it

(ii)          the grant of Outline Planning Permission

(iii)         the decision to enter into a conditional contract of sale of the

Millwall Land to Renewal

(iv)         the decision of the Mayor and Cabinet to pledge £500,000 to

Surrey Canal Sports Foundation

(v)          the Council’s support for Renewal’s Housing Zone bid”

noting also that Lord Dyson concluded that “(a) the Council was not misled by

any misrepresentation, misinformation or withholding of information in relation

to the decision to make the pledge of £500,000; and (b) there was no

inadequacy in the Council’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the

production of the Lambert Smith Hampton brochure.”

(3) thanks be recorded to Lord Dyson for the thoroughness and timeliness of

his report; and

(4) the detail of Lord Dyson’s report be used to inform continuous

improvement and learning.