Haringey Council have finally agreed to answer the serious questions being posed by the borough’s Liberal Democrats about the Alexandra Palace accounts.

The move came at last week’s General Purposes Committee, where Lib Dem councillors Matt Davies (Fortis Green) and Jonathan Bloch (Muswell Hill) challenged Haringey Council on the issue.

The Lib Dems have twice asked Haringey Council to answer the detailed series of questions in recent months, but the Council has wriggled, saying the questions were not for them. At this week’s meeting, Haringey has now finally agreed to answer the Lib Dem questions, with the Director of Finance agreeing that he has overall responsibility for the accuracy of the Alexandra Palace accounts.

Local Lib Dems say that Ally Pally’s accounts appear to present a worse picture for the Palace than is actually the case, and serve to obscure the profits and losses from concessions such as catering or the Phoenix pub.

These factors inevitably lead to more pressure for an effective sale of the building. Even Labour councillors raised concerns at the meeting, with one suggesting that they presented the Council as paying interest on what are only hypothetical debts.

Cllr Jonathan Bloch (Muswell Hill) comments:

“I am pleased that Haringey Council has now agreed to answer these serious questions, but they have waited far too long to do so. We can’t have these issues left obscured any longer.”