Haringey Council has handed a report into a number of its property deals over to the police due to concerns an official may have leaked confidential information to a property developer.
The review of property transactions or intended transactions made by the council several years ago revealed concerns that information in a confidential exempt report was ‘leaked to [an] interested third party’.
The author of the review, the independent investigator Chris Buss, said that the evidence of the leak was when a representative of the developer in question – referred to as ‘Developer A’ – phoned an officer about issues that were supposed to be confidential.
Mr Buss noted this could be a one-off occurrence, but said: ‘There is no way of knowing how the Developer received this information, but it does demonstrate links between either officers or members and Developer A.’
The council has passed the report to the police who are currently investigating another property development scheme.
Mr Buss’ report sets out how this incident took place against a wider backdrop that saw the local authority’s capacity to carry out property transactions greatly reduced.
Before 2018, the council’s property team was ‘run down’ in preparation for the launch of the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV), which would have taken on the property team’s responsibilities. The joint venture was scrapped after council elections in 2018.
The new leadership subsequently set out plans to deliver 1000 new homes. However, according to Mr Buss’ report, ‘the structures to deliver a scheme of this size and complexity’ were not ‘immediately in place’.
The reduction of the property team had meant ‘a loss of corporate memory’ and ‘a failure to adequately maintain records on property related matters.’ Mr Buss also noted there was an ‘absence of key permanent staff’ and an ‘absence of effective governance structures’.
Haringey Council leader Cllr Peray Ahmet said: ‘We cannot change what happened in the past, but I am determined that we use this review to learn lessons and ensure we continue to build an effective property function with strong political oversight and transparent decision making. The report will be passed to the police.’
