Councillors are demanding that a report on the failed sale of a former Dudley leisure centre be debated in public, rather than behind closed doors as currently planned. The investigation by auditors Grant Thornton uncovered 'serious weaknesses' in the council's governance arrangements during the aborted disposal of the Wellington Road site for housing, a deal announced in April 2024 but which subsequently collapsed.
Audit Findings Ready for July Committee
The audit report is now complete and was scheduled to be revealed to councillors in a private session of the authority's Audit Committee in July. However, pressure is building for the details to be made public. At a meeting of the committee on June 24, members debated whether the report deserved to be the sole item on the agenda.
Committee chairperson, Cllr Jackie Cowell, said: 'It is something myself and the vice-chair have discussed. There is potentially a very contentious issue, it was suggested the special report could be a single item. It may make sense to do that so we get to do what we need to do, on the back of that consideration needs to be given as to whether that item is in public, currently it is in private. There are many of us who think it should be in the public domain.'
Governance Weaknesses Identified
Grant Thornton's audit report on the council's accounts for the financial year 2023/24, which remains unsigned due to the delay with the Wellington Road report, stated: 'Our audit work on the aborted sale of the former leisure centre at Wellington Road identified significant weaknesses in the council's governance arrangements.'
Andrew Smith, from Grant Thornton, told the audit committee meeting that the Wellington Road report was 'prolonged and quite complex'. He added: 'That work is now complete, a draft report was shared with managers back in May and that report will be coming to the July meeting of the Audit Committee.'
Council Leader Denies Cover-Up
The failed deal was announced by council leader Cllr Patrick Harley, who attributed delays in completing the report to bureaucratic issues. Speaking in December 2025, Cllr Harley denied the authority was trying to keep the auditor's findings under wraps. He said: 'It will be made public, I've got nothing to hide; there is nothing to see here.'
Despite these assurances, councillors and local residents are calling for transparency, arguing that the public has a right to know what went wrong with the deal, which was intended to bring housing to the site of the former leisure centre in Wellington Road.
