According to the Coventry Telegraph's Simon Gilibert, a report has said that there was no wrong-doing by Coventry City Council during their talks with SISU over the Ricoh Arena.
The 32 page report was produced by Simon Goacher of Weightmans, who is quoted as saying “I do not believe that any argument that there was a failure to comply with the Code based on the allegation that the Council was saying one thing to Sisu whilst always secretly doing everything that it could to frustrate Sisu’s plans can succeed.
“The council believed that Sisu was embarking on a deliberate strategy of distressing ACL by not paying the rent due... it seems clear that Sisu was doing exactly that and it was causing significant difficulties for ACL.”
The report also considers that the decision to sell ACL to Wasps was made on the basis of professional advice, rather than personal animosity.
It reads: “I believe that the councillors including councillors Lucas and Mutton made the decision which they did because they honestly believed, on professional advice, that it was in the best interests of the council and the council tax payers and there are no grounds for concluding that they failed to comply with the Code in reaching that decision.”
Mr Goacher adds that “there was not an orchestrated media campaign to target Ms Seppala” and found that Coun Mutton had not been rude to Ms Seppala during meetings but had raised “legitimate issues”.
He concludes: “My finding is that there has not been any failure to comply with the council’s code of conduct by Coun Lucas or by Coun Mutton.”
Full story - http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/report-dismisses-sisu-complaint-conduct-10488046