Secret deal backgrounder
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6 THE SENTINEL Friday February 15, 2013 SEN-eO1-S2 [P/R] SEN-eO1-S2 [P/R] THE SENTINEL Friday February 15, 2013 7 www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news How the Dimensions splash pool saga unfolded As confidential letters to set up a secret Dimensions deal, which was repeatedly denied by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, are revealed, Alex Campbell examines the relationship between senior council figures and a millionaire businessmen which ultimately turned sour former chief executive Steve Robin- son distanced the authority from any agreement. The city council has never formally declared that a deal was in place. These are some of the key exchanges between the two parties. RECORDS released yesterday date back to October 2007 when Mr Chaudry was discussing plans to expand WaterWorld into a major leis- ure complex with houses, a fitness centre, a hotel and an ice rink. Peter Hayes, the council’s interim director of communications, told Mr Chaudry: “Mark Meredith says you two have had a chat about your plans. He would rather deal with this him- self.” Details of a Renew North Stafford- shire meeting held at Water- World in November 2007 show Mr Chaudry asked the council to publicly support his expansion plans, which have never been developed. They include the first reference to WaterWorld benefiting from the clos- ure of council swimming facilities. A summary, written by Renew’s Andrew Tharp, states: “City council to develop a swimming contract with Mo in anticipation of future swimming facility shortages.” Plans to shut Dimensions were not made public until more than four months later, in February 2008. A SENIOR council officer met Mr Chaudry on January 4, 2008, to dis- cuss a plan to shut Dimensions splash pool and offer an incentive for cus- tomers to visit WaterWorld. In an email sent to Mr Chaudry and copied to Mr Meredith later on the same day, community services dir- ector Julie Seddon states that plans were ‘agreed’ to shut Dimensions and run a £50,000 ‘pilot’ of free access to WaterWorld for school age children. Ms Seddon arranged a meeting between Mr Chaudry and Mr Meredith to ‘drive progress’, suggest- ing the proposal should eventually be promoted in its own ‘Our City’ magazine and The Sentinel. She thanked Mr Chaudry for his ‘enthusiasm’ and said she was look- ing forward to watching a DVD of Mr Chaudry’s appearance on TV show The Secret Millionaire. In an email to the elected mayor on the same day, Mr Chaudry said: “More or less everything is agreed in prin- ciple subject to finalising the detail and signing the formal agreements.” He also offered his support in set- ting up a mentoring programme, telling Mr Meredith it would improve the city’s ‘credibility’ with central Government and ‘counter negative press’ over school closures. PLANS to shut Dimensions splash pool to save £60,000 were revealed by The Sentinel on February 25, 2008. Then cabinet member, Labour’s Mohammed Pervez, told The Sen- tinel: “The council is required to provide swimming facilities but this is a splash pool. You have to question whether the city council should be providing this service.” The council made no reference to its discussions with WaterWorld. Labour councillors Jean Edwards and Dave Conway quit in protest over the planned closure. Labour member, Alan Joynson, followed days later. Mr Conway claims Mr Pervez and Mr Meredith ‘categorically denied’ any meetings with Mr Chaudry. The plan to close Dimensions by the end of March, 2008 – which still made no reference to WaterWorld – was narrowly approved on February 29. RESIDENTS launched a campaign to save the pool – with more than 7,000 signing a petition against the plan. A public meeting to discuss the campaign was held on March 20. Unbeknown to residents, Mr Chaudry emailed the council’s PR department on the same day to out- line a plan to offer half-price entry to city taxpayers at WaterWorld during certain periods of the day. He offered to provide a discount for two months before agreeing ‘a long- term scheme to fund the ratepayers access to WaterWorld. In exchanges with PR chief Mr Hayes he suggested the scheme would win public support for the Dimen- sions closure, adding: “It is high time something positive came out of all that has gone on. This will take the heat off everyone for the time being.” On a planned press release to reveal the WaterWorld deal, Mr Chaudry said: “The last thing anyone wants is to mess up and get further backlash.” AS PRESSURE mounted the coun- cil failed to confirm a closure date for the pool and councillors voted to post- pone plans for further examination. On April 3, a scrutiny committee demanded a ‘full investigation’ into the closure plans and called for a full review of the leisure service. The letters reveal that Mr Chaudry met Mr Robinson a day later. It became clear that the apparent agreement was in jeopardy and his relationship with the authority began to sour. Mr Chaudry threatened to sue over a deal he felt had been broken, while Mr Robinson attempted to distance himself from any ‘alleged agreement’ by pointing out that individual coun- cillors and officers do not have the power to circumvent the democratic process. Mr Robinson told Mr Chaudry: “You stated that you ‘did not wish to play the race card’ but felt that the council was not, in effect, being even- handed in its relations with you. “On a more general note, it did appear at our meeting that you were seeking to force the council to act in a way supportive of your commercial interests and outside of established processes through the threat of legal action. I am not sure whether this was intentional or perhaps a reflection of different approaches to ‘doing busi- ness’; however, I do not feel that it is helpful.” In a strongly-worded riposte, Mr Chaudry, pictured right, expressed his frustration that a taxpayer-funded facility was allowed to rival his business, stating: “I wonder how our two professional clubs would feel if the council decided that they wanted to get in to professional football and would allow their customers to pay only a fraction of the entry price and be subsid- ised by the rate payer.” He questioned financial support for Stoke City’s Britannia Stadium and a £2.5 million loan to Port Vale, adding: “My grievance here is that these pro- fessional football clubs have received substantial financial benefits from the rate payer.” SAVINGS of £60,000 by closing Dimensions were a significant under- estimate, according to Mr Chaudry’s claims. But the results of the council’s ser- vice review, which were published on June 6, concluded that no such sav- ings could be made. Announcing that the pool was saved, Mr Pervez said: “The figure of £60,000 is not there, and therefore we cannot justify closing Dimensions splash pool.” Mr Meredith and Mr Chaudry, and senior councillor Roger Ibbs – who Mr Chaudry suspected of helping to derail the Dimensions deal over a personal grievance – were later arres- ted on suspicion of various offences. A seven-month inquiry led to no charges being brought. Mr Chaudry revealed in November 2009 that he was to sue the council to clear his name over what he has always maintained was a deal the coun- cil had broken. He was paid £21,850 to end his legal threat in September 2011, at which point the council ‘acknowledged that discus- sions had taken place’ and apologised for ‘confusion.’ Meredith: ‘The original savings identified to close the facility were not deliverable’ CITY council officers have fought for years to keep secret the email exchanges between senior directors and WaterWorld owner Mo Chaudry. The authority refused a number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests triggered by its £21,850 payoff to Mr Chaudry in September 2011. Requests under FOI, which legally obliges public bodies to release certain information, sought full disclosure of the paper trail linking Mr Chaudry with senior officers and the elected mayor. The authority refused on the grounds that its payoff to Mr Chaudry included a legally-binding confidentiality agreement between both parties. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which oversees legal obligations under FOI, sided with the council. But the case raised concerns about a precedent for public information being concealed by civil proceedings. An information rights tribunal at the ICO overturned the original refusal, prompting the council to release a dossier of relevant communications yesterday. Paul Hackney, the council’s head of legal services, said: “The council considered it inappropriate to release certain information under several Freedom of Information requests. “This was because the information was considered relevant to a settlement agreement reached between the council and WaterWorld Holdings following a confidential mediation agreement over a legal dispute between the two organisations in 2011. “The Information Commissioner fully agreed with the council’s approach. However, the situation has been clarified by the tribunal and a number of email communications and letters are now able to be released. “The council is complying with the order. It is not appealing against the tribunal’s decision.” Council forced to hand over emails and letters I AM pleased that the full story can now be told and I welcome this opportunity to do so. I met Mr Chaudry back in 2007 through his many activities in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. Mr Chaudry spoke to me about the potential partnership arrangements to deliver swimming sessions at WaterWorld. This appeared to be an attractive proposition given the high level of taxpayer subsidy to sport and leisure services in the city. Consequently I facilitated meetings between Mr Chaudry and appropriate officers of the city council. As a result of these meetings a proposal was developed by council officials in conjunction with Mr Chaudry which involved the possible closure of the Dimensions splash pool and re- provision of services at WaterWorld at a reduced cost. Under the governance arrangements at the time, it was initially felt that the matter could be dealt with under delegated powers to officers. However, as the matter became politically very contentious it was decided that this was best dealt with through a wider process involving elected councillors as part of the council’s budget discussions. As with all difficult decisions of this nature this was not an easy process and was complicated by a number of factors including the number of factions and groups on the council and allegations of inappropriate behaviour of some elected members due to alleged personal conflicts with Mr Chaudry. Despite the difficulties the matter was debated at full council and a democratic decision was made to close Dimensions splash pool pending a full service review. Elected members voted on the information before them as supplied by council officials. Following a council service review I was told by council officials that the original savings identified were not in fact deliverable by closing Dimensions splash pool. At this point I decided to reverse the original decision and informed the staff at Dimensions accordingly. Mr Chaudry had a grievance against the council which was dealt with by the official legal department of the council. Following an internal council investigation and the subsequent referral of the matter to the police a number of arrests were made. However, the Standards Board for England and the police investigations found no wrongdoing or criminal action or intent on behalf of either myself or Mr Chaudry. Having considered all the evidence before them the police did not take matters further. Mr Chaudry continued to pursue a legal challenge against the council which was eventually settled through an official mediation process out of court. Both parties subsequently issued agreed press statements. Unfortunately, I was not able to speak on this issue previously both because a legal process was still being progressed and there were clear legal reasons preventing me from speaking. I hope that this information now in the public domain helps to clarify the issues surrounding the original decision.” QUESTION: Mohammed Pervez asked if the council needed to provide a splash pool. READ THE EMAILS ONLINE AT 9.30AM – www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk council officers show the entrepren- eur immediately threatened legal action when it became clear that a plan to shut Burslem’s Dimensions splash pool and divert customers to his business had collapsed. Today’s disclosures show Mr Chaudry was told by a senior officer that a deal had been agreed – in the full knowledge of elected mayor Mark Meredith. But as public and political opposition spiralled the council’s MILLIONAIRE Mo Chaudry criti- cised the city council for running a taxpayer-funded rival to his own business and claimed the authority’s financial support for Stoke City and Port Vale had set a precedent for using public funds to sup- port private businesses. Exchanges between the WaterWorld owner and city ’ ‘ POSTURE AWARENESS WEEK 18th-24th February HOW GOOD IS YOUR POSTURE? FIND OUT WITH A FREE DIGITAL POSTURE ANALYSIS! FREE DIGITAL POSTURE ANALYSIS & SPINAL ASSESSMENT Call Now: 01782 711191 www.chiropractorin.co.uk Church House, Blackfriars Road, Newcastle under Lyme. ST5 2ED What’s Your Posture Number? Bad posture can cause headaches, back pain, neck pain or poor health. Do you suffer from any of these conditions? OPEN DAY on SATURDAY 23RD FEBRUARY 9AM - 1PM JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY 2004 Older men and women with hyperkyphotic posture have higher mortality rates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PAIN MANAGEMENT 1994 Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture. Studies published in the above respected clinical journals all point to the need to take seriously the effects of poor posture on a person’s health and performance. A simple exam can reveal your Posture Number, and what that number means to the health of your spine and organ systems. Call Now: 01782 848184 www.chiropractorin.co.uk 40 Epworth Street, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. ST4 1NR
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Last story for the Sentinel
Transcript of Secret deal backgrounder
6 THE SENTINEL Friday February 15, 2013 SEN-eO1-S2 [P/R] SEN-eO1-S2 [P/R] THE SENTINEL Friday February 15, 2013 7www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news
How the Dimensions splash pool saga unfoldedAs confidential letters to set up a secret Dimensionsdeal, which was repeatedly denied by Stoke-on-Trent CityCouncil, are revealed, Alex Campbell examines therelationship between senior council figures and amillionaire businessmen which ultimately turned sour
former chief executive Steve Robin-son distanced the authority from anyagreement. The city council hasnever formally declared that a dealwas in place. These are some of thekey exchanges between the twopar ties.
RECORDS released yesterday dateback to October 2007 when MrChaudry was discussing plans toexpand WaterWorld into a major leis-ure complex with houses, a fitnesscentre, a hotel and an ice rink.
Peter Hayes, the council’s interimdirector of communications, told MrChaudry: “Mark Meredith says youtwo have had a chat about your plans.He would rather deal with this him-s e l f. ”
Details of a Renew North Stafford-shire meeting held at Water-
World in November 2007show Mr Chaudry asked
the council to publiclysupport his expansionplans, which have neverbeen developed.
They include the first reference toWaterWorld benefiting from the clos-ure of council swimming facilities.
A summary, written by Renew’sAndrew Tharp, states: “City council todevelop a swimming contract with Moin anticipation of future swimmingfacility shortages.”
Plans to shut Dimensions were notmade public until more than fourmonths later, in February 2008.
A SENIOR council officer met MrChaudry on January 4, 2008, to dis-cuss a plan to shut Dimensions splashpool and offer an incentive for cus-tomers to visit WaterWorld.
In an email sent to Mr Chaudry andcopied to Mr Meredith later on thesame day, community services dir-ector Julie Seddon states that planswere ‘ag reed’ to shut Dimensions andrun a £50,000 ‘pilot’ of free access toWaterWorld for school age children.
Ms Seddon arranged a meetingbetween Mr Chaudry and MrMeredith to ‘drive progress’, suggest-ing the proposal should eventually bepromoted in its own ‘Our City’magazine and The Sentinel.
She thanked Mr Chaudry for his‘enthusiasm’ and said she was look-ing forward to watching a DVD of Mr
Chaudry’s appearance on TV showThe Secret Millionaire.
In an email to the elected mayor onthe same day, Mr Chaudry said: “M o reor less everything is agreed in prin-ciple subject to finalising the detailand signing the formal agreements.”
He also offered his support in set-ting up a mentoring programme,telling Mr Meredith it would improvethe city’s ‘c re d i b i l i t y ’ with centralGovernment and ‘counter negativep re s s ’ over school closures.
PLANS to shut Dimensions splashpool to save £60,000 were revealed byThe Sentinel on February 25, 2008.
Then cabinet member, Labour’sMohammed Pervez, told The Sen-tinel: “The council is required toprovide swimming facilities but this isa splash pool. You have to questionwhether the city council should beproviding this service.”
The council made no reference toits discussions with WaterWorld.
Labour councillors Jean Edwardsand Dave Conway quit in protest overthe planned closure. Labour member,Alan Joynson, followed days later.
Mr Conway claims Mr Pervez andMr Meredith ‘categorically denied’any meetings with Mr Chaudry.
The plan to close Dimensions by theend of March, 2008 – which still madeno reference to WaterWorld – wasnarrowly approved on February 29.
RESIDENTS launched a campaignto save the pool – with more than 7,000signing a petition against the plan.
A public meeting to discuss thecampaign was held on March 20.
Unbeknown to residents, Mr
Chaudry emailed the council’s PRdepartment on the same day to out-line a plan to offer half-price entry tocity taxpayers at WaterWorld duringcertain periods of the day.
He offered to provide a discount fortwo months before agreeing ‘a long-term scheme to fund the ratepayersaccess to WaterWorld.
In exchanges with PR chief MrHayes he suggested the scheme wouldwin public support for the Dimen-sions closure, adding: “It is high timesomething positive came out of all thathas gone on. This will take the heat offeveryone for the time being.”
On a planned press release to revealthe WaterWorld deal, Mr Chaudrysaid: “The last thing anyone wants isto mess up and get further backlash.”
AS PRESSURE mounted the coun-cil failed to confirm a closure date forthe pool and councillors voted to post-pone plans for further examination.
On April 3, a scrutiny committeedemanded a ‘full investigation’ intothe closure plans and called for a fullreview of the leisure service.
The letters reveal that Mr Chaudrymet Mr Robinson a day later.
It became clear that the apparent
agreement was in jeopardy and hisrelationship with the authoritybegan to sour.
Mr Chaudry threatened to sue overa deal he felt had been broken, whileMr Robinson attempted to distancehimself from any ‘alleged agreement’by pointing out that individual coun-cillors and officers do not have thepower to circumvent the democraticp ro c e s s.
Mr Robinson told Mr Chaudry:“You stated that you ‘did not wish toplay the race card’ but felt that thecouncil was not, in effect, being even-handed in its relations with you.
“On a more general note, it didappear at our meeting that you wereseeking to force the council to act in away supportive of your commercialinterests and outside of establishedprocesses through the threat of legalaction. I am not sure whether this wasintentional or perhaps a reflection ofdifferent approaches to ‘doing busi-ness’; however, I do not feel that it ishelpful.”
In a strongly-worded riposte, MrChaudry, pictured right,expressed his frustration that ataxpayer-funded facility wasallowed to rival his business,stating: “I wonder how our twoprofessional clubs would feel ifthe council decided that theywanted to get in to professionalfootball and would allow theircustomers to pay only afraction of the entryprice and be subsid-ised by the ratepay er.”
He questioned financial support forStoke City’s Britannia Stadium and a£2.5 million loan to Port Vale, adding:“My grievance here is that these pro-fessional football clubs have receivedsubstantial financial benefits from therate payer.”
SAVINGS of £60,000 by closingDimensions were a significant under-estimate, according to Mr Chaudry’scl a i m s.
But the results of the council’s ser-vice review, which were published onJune 6, concluded that no such sav-ings could be made.
Announcing that the pool wassaved, Mr Pervez said: “The figure of£60,000 is not there, and therefore wecannot justify closing Dimensionssplash pool.”
Mr Meredith and Mr Chaudry, andsenior councillor Roger Ibbs – wh oMr Chaudry suspected of helping toderail the Dimensions deal over apersonal grievance – were later arres-ted on suspicion of various offences.A seven-month inquiry led to no
charges being brought.Mr Chaudry revealed in
November 2009 that he was tosue the council to clear hisname over what he has alwaysmaintained was a deal the coun-cil had broken.
He was paid £21,850 to end hislegal threat in September 2011, atwhich point the council
‘acknowledged that discus-sions had taken place’
and apologised for‘confusion.’
Meredith: ‘The original savings identified to close the facility were not deliverable’
CITY council officers have fought foryears to keep secret the emailexchanges between senior directorsand WaterWorld owner Mo Chaudry.The authority refused a number ofFreedom of Information (FOI) requeststriggered by its £21,850 payoff to MrChaudry in September 2011.Requests under FOI, which legallyobliges public bodies to releasecertain information, sought fulldisclosure of the paper trail linking MrChaudry with senior officers and theelected mayor.The authority refused on the groundsthat its payoff to Mr Chaudry includeda legally-binding confidentialityagreement between both parties.The Information Commissioner’sOffice (ICO), which oversees legalobligations under FOI, sided with thecouncil.But the case raised concerns about aprecedent for public information beingconcealed by civil proceedings.An information rights tribunal at theICO overturned the original refusal,prompting the council to release adossier of relevant communicationsyesterday.Paul Hackney, the council’s head oflegal services, said: “The councilconsidered it inappropriate to releasecertain information under severalFreedom of Information requests.“This was because the informationwas considered relevant to asettlement agreement reachedbetween the council and WaterWorldHoldings following a confidentialmediation agreement over a legaldispute between the twoorganisations in 2011.“The Information Commissioner fullyagreed with the council’s approach.However, the situation has beenclarified by the tribunal and a numberof email communications and lettersare now able to be released.“The council is complying with theorder. It is not appealing against thetribunal’s decision.”
Council forced to handover emails and letters
I AM pleased that the full story cannow be told and I welcome this
opportunity to do so.I met Mr Chaudry back in 2007 throughhis many activities in Stoke-on-Trent andNorth Staffordshire.Mr Chaudry spoke to me about thepotential partnership arrangements todeliver swimming sessions atWaterWorld.This appeared to be an attractiveproposition given the high level oftaxpayer subsidy to sport and leisureservices in the city.Consequently I facilitated meetingsbetween Mr Chaudry and appropriateofficers of the city council.As a result of these meetings aproposal was developed bycouncil officials in conjunctionwith Mr Chaudry which involvedthe possible closure of theDimensions splash pool and re-provision of services at WaterWorldat a reduced cost.Under the governancearrangements at the time, itwas initially felt that thematter could be dealt withunder delegated powers toofficers.
However, as the matter becamepolitically very contentious it wasdecided that this was best dealt withthrough a wider process involvingelected councillors as part of thecouncil’s budget discussions.As with all difficult decisions of thisnature this was not an easy process andwas complicated by a number of factorsincluding the number of factions andgroups on the council and allegations ofinappropriate behaviour of some electedmembers due to alleged personalconflicts with Mr Chaudry.Despite the difficulties the matter wasdebated at full council and a democratic
decision was made to closeDimensions splash pool pending afull service review. Electedmembers voted on the informationbefore them as supplied bycouncil officials.
Following a council service review Iwas told by council officials that
the original savings identifiedwere not in fact deliverable
by closing Dimensionssplash pool.At this point I decidedto reverse the originaldecision and informed
the staff at Dimensions accordingly.Mr Chaudry had a grievance against thecouncil which was dealt with by theofficial legal department of the council.Following an internal councilinvestigation and the subsequentreferral of the matter to the police anumber of arrests were made.However, the Standards Board forEngland and the police investigationsfound no wrongdoing or criminal actionor intent on behalf of either myself or MrChaudry.Having considered all the evidencebefore them the police did not takematters further.Mr Chaudry continued to pursue a legalchallenge against the council which waseventually settled through an officialmediation process out of court.Both parties subsequently issuedagreed press statements.Unfortunately, I was not able to speakon this issue previously both because alegal process was still being progressedand there were clear legal reasonspreventing me from speaking.I hope that this information now in thepublic domain helps to clarify theissues surrounding the originaldecision.”
QUESTION:MohammedPervezasked if thecouncilneeded toprovide asplash pool.
READ THE EMAILS ONLINE AT 9.30AM – w w w.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk
council officers show the entrepren-eur immediately threatened legalaction when it became clear that aplan to shut Burslem’s Dimensionssplash pool and divert customers tohis business had collapsed.
To d ay ’s disclosures show MrChaudry was told by a senior officerthat a deal had been agreed – in thefull knowledge of elected mayor MarkMeredith. But as public and politicalopposition spiralled the council’s
MILLIONAIRE Mo Chaudry criti-cised the city council for running a
taxpayer-funded rival to his ownbusiness and claimed the
authority’s financial supportfor Stoke City and Port Vale
had set a precedent forusing public funds to sup-
port private businesses.Exchanges betweenthe WaterWorld
owner and city
’
‘
POSTURE AWARENESS WEEK18th-24th February
HOW GOOD IS YOUR POSTURE?FIND OUT WITH A FREE DIGITAL POSTURE ANALYSIS!
FREEDIGITAL POSTUREANALYSIS & SPINAL
ASSESSMENT
Call Now: 01782 711191www.chiropractorin.co.ukChurch House, Blackfriars Road,Newcastle under Lyme. ST5 2ED
What’s Your Posture Number? Bad posture can causeheadaches, back pain,neck pain or poor health.Do you suffer from any of these conditions?
OPEN DAY on SATURDAY23RD FEBRUARY 9AM - 1PM
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICANGERIATRICS SOCIETY 2004Older men and women withhyperkyphotic posture have
higher mortality rates.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PAINMANAGEMENT 1994
Spinal pain, headache, mood,blood pressure, pulse and lung
capacity are among the functionsmost easily influenced by posture.
Studies published in the above respected clinical journals all point tothe need to take seriously the effects of poor posture on a person’shealth and performance.
A simple exam can reveal your Posture Number, and what that numbermeans to the health of your spine and organ systems.
Call Now: 01782 848184www.chiropractorin.co.uk
40 Epworth Street,Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. ST4 1NR
