Are RBH and the Council seeking to keep taxpayers in the dark - again?

Date published: 31 October 2007

Are Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) and Rochdale Council again seeking to keep you, the taxpayers of Rochdale, in the dark? It transpires they may be given they do not want you to know the outcome of the investigation into why so much of your money has been wasted, or if the allegations levelled at RBH Chairwoman Gill Walch are justified or not, in the ongoing saga of the failed RBH Chief Executive recruitment processes.; in an article on the Rochdale Federation of Tenant amp; Resident Associations (RoFTRA) web site, RoFTRA Chief Officer David Bartlett reveals RoFTRA's belief that the terms of reference for the independent investigation submitted by RBH and the Council to the Audit Commission include a requirement that the Commission's report at the end of their investigation must remain confidential.

When Rochdale Online first broke this story on the 12 August:

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/News/news.asp?ID=4001

...we titled the article:

'The news Rochdale Boroughwide Housing and the Council do not want you to know!'

This was due to both RBH and the Council refusing over a three week period to issue an official statement - as reported at the time all requests were met with nothing more than obfuscation and breathtaking understatement.

On the 14 August, following publication of the article on Rochdale Online, the RBH Board finally issued a statement that promised an investigation and included a refusal to comment further until the outcome of the investigation was known.

"Until the Board has an opportunity to consider the outcome of this investigation it would be inappropriate for RBH to comment further."

In the months it has taken RBH and the Council to finally suspend their oft denied but well known antipathy towards each other and agree the terms of reference for the investigation, the Council has consistently refused to answer enquires on similar grounds.

Having initially rebuffed any attempt to obtain an official statement, until publication forced their hand, and since consistently refused to answer any further enquires, it appears that RBH and the Council are still not prepared to be open and transparent.