WIREDGOV

A Wigan sports club has been denied the chance of a new home in an empty community centre because of a flawed decision process, the Local Government Ombudsman has found.

During the bidding process, three community groups and sports clubs submitted business cases to the council to use an empty community centre and neighbouring field.

When those business cases were analysed, officers gave the complainant’s sports club the highest score. However, Wigan council then took the decision to sell the land unless the sports club and a rival bidder worked together.

This is the second complaint about this issue. The first complaint was that the council had failed to advertise the availability of the community centre and field properly. The sports club had been denied the opportunity to put in a bid to use the site. The only two bids being considered were both councillor-led, and the bidding process had not been made public.

Following that complaint, Wigan MBC agreed to provide other groups with the opportunity to put in a bid.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said:

“The only apparent reason for not granting a lease to the complainant’s sports club was the fear of generating another Ombudsman’s report – this should be an irrelevant consideration when making a decision.

“The report provided no evidence or reasoning why the council considered the sports clubs should work together but it should have been clear that it was unlikely the two sports clubs would be able to achieve this.

“I am pleased that the council has agreed to my recommendations to put this right.”

The council has agreed to review its decision and will only take relevant considerations into account.

It will reconsider working with the highest scoring bidder and if this does not prove viable, the council will confirm its decision to sell the site.

The council has also agreed to pay the man £500 in recognition of his time and trouble in bringing a second complaint to the LGO.

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