Westminster council has rebuffed questions about the whereabouts of £6m set aside for housing from its settlement with former leader Dame Shirley Porter over the long-running “homes for votes” scandal.

Porter paid the Conservative-led authority £12.3m last year in a compromise deal.

Now Labour councillors are demanding to know if the £6m has been spent and on what. The council insists it is being spent on reaching the decent homes standard.

Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour group, said: “The authority was very unspecific when it announced the money would be spent on housing. It could have been spent on new build or repairing existing properties.”

He added: “We are not saying there has been any wrongdoing. We are simply asking two questions: how has it been spent and, if it hasn’t, how will it be spent?”

The council said the funds had gone to arm’s-length management organisation CityWest Homes.

Angela Harvey, cabinet member for housing, said: “It is nonsense to suggest the money has ‘gone missing’. It is being used as part of a much larger fund to improve living conditions across the borough.”

Source

Housing Today