Three Ally Pally trustees have expressed their dismay that the Alexandra Palace accounts have been submitted to the Charity Commission without the unanimous approval of the Board of Trustees.

Attempts by the three councillors, Bob Hare, John Oakes, and Neil Williams, to have their concerns taken on board were ignored by the Palace, and the accounts were submitted on the basis of a majority vote of Labour trustees, conducted via email.

The three have now challenged the Board of Trustees to justify their refusal to accept the changes, which centre around the period when the Trust granted a controversial licence to Firoka, leading to losses running into millions of pounds.

The three objected to the lack of clarity in the way in which these very large amounts were disclosed, and wanted the accounts to report the overall costs of the failed attempt to sell the Palace.

Trustee Bob Hare comments:

“It is extremely worrying that the Labour trustees have not sought to engage with us or reach agreement and address these concerns in the interest of the Palace. We have made every effort, but our concerns have been swept aside.

“The Charity Commission were not even contacted to see if they minded a slight delay while an attempt was made to resolve the stalemate.

“The Commission will be well aware of the serious concerns surrounding the license – and the Trust itself was months late submitting accounts last year.

“The vote was conducted by email, without any further meeting, a procedure which itself is open to question.

“This worrying step by those trustees appointed by the Labour Council shows more than ever that we need an independent chair and indpendent trustees at the Palace.

“We have no wish to conduct Palace matters by complaints to the Charity Commission, but we have a responsibility as trustees to safeguard the Palace and Park for Haringey’s residents and other Londoners. It is those people, after all, who are the beneficiaries of the Ally Pally charity, and if our concerns over the accounts are ignored in this way, then that is how we will have to do it.”

A top Labour Haringey councillor was last night unrepentant amid fresh calls from Liberal Democrats for his resignation for his role in the Alexandra Palace debacle.

Liberal Democrats highlighted the findings of the independent Walklate Review carried out for Haringey Council which suggests that Cllr Charles Adje pushed through granting a licence to Firoka for his own political reasons.

Cllr Robert Gorrie, Haringey Liberal Democrat leader, said at the meeting of the Full Council that the independent report found no evidence for why the decision was made to award a licence and that this decision had cost Haringey’s taxpayers £2 million. The only motivation was from Cllr Adje who was at the time vying for a position as Haringey Council resources spokesperson and wanted his management of Alexandra Palace to look favourable.

Cllr Gorrie went on to say at the meeting:

“There can be no doubt from the report that the process was driven and directed by Councillor Adje. There must be some substantial concerns about the quality of support and advice given which allowed Councillor Adje to make such a bad decision in such a bad way and for what appear to be have been at least in part political motives. But make it he did and responsible for it he is and given this history we must challenge the probity of having such an individual in charge of the Council’s Resources.Councillor Adje should step down as Cabinet Member for Resources.”

Cllr Robert Gorrie commented today:

“It is incomprehensible that Labour have ignored an independent investigation which puts blame firmly at the door of Cllr Adje. More perplexing is that he will continue to hold the purse strings of the Council after demonstrating such suspect judgement when he was Alexandra Palace Chair.

“Labour have a history of political disaster at the Palace and the current Chair, Cllr Matt Cooke, has continued along this damaging path. He failed to terminate the Licence when the Judicial Review confirmed the consultation failings and it was his disastrous management that may have left the Trust open to legal challenge by Firoka.

“We have called for Cllr Cooke to resign as Chair of the Trustees to make way for a suitable non-political Chair. Only then will residents stop being the losers who, time after time, have to pick up the tab financially for Labour’s mistakes.”

Liberal Democrat campaigner and by-election candidate Nigel Scott has thrown down the gauntlet to Haringey Council by launching his plan for the future of Haringey’s historical icon Alexandra Palace.

The plan follows a tumultuous year for Ally Pally, which has recently seen the deal with property tycoon Firoz Kassam collapse and Labour-run Haringey Council mired in scandal over its handling of the negotiations.

Nigel Scott believes that his plan will work towards a restored Alexandra Palace which gives Haringey and London a resource that combines recreational and educational facilities with commercial activities in ways that will respect the charitable purposes of the historical building.

Along with local Liberal Democrat councillors Susan Oatway and David Beacham, Nigel Scott is campaigning to:

·Establish a new board with independent, expert trustees representative of local and national interests, with an independent Chair.

·Ensure proper consultation with residents about the Palace’s future.

·Refurbish the ice rink, make the Victorian theatre fully usable and multi-purpose, make the historic TV studios an educational visitor attraction and support the organ society’s restoration work.

·Protect the CUFOS community centre and its valued activities.

·Make getting to the site via public transport easier (such as Oyster at Alexandra Palace rail station).

·Provide the trading company with the room and encouragement to thrive, so that expanded charitable activities can be fully-funded.

·Actively seek funding sources appropriate to the charitable status of the Trust.

·Clarify the financial contribution of Haringey Council by an annual grant to the charity to cover the costs of maintaining the public road and park.

·Retain ultimate public control in the interests of public benefit.

·Fully recognise the increasingly unique value – as London gets ever denser – of Alexandra Palace and Park to local people and Londoners.

Nigel Scott comments:

“Alexandra Palace is a community treasure.Labour’s shady and incompetent dealings with the Palace’s have been fully exposed this week. This must now stop.

“We need a plan that will really engage with the people of Haringey, a plan that will provide independence from Labour’s incompetent meddling with strong independent leadership. We need a restored building that cherishes the Palace’s historic uniqueness and protects the good work carried out by CUFOS.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“Alexandra Palace is a cultural and historical icon that needs to be raised above the quagmire of Haringey Labour’s financial and political bungling.”

Haringey’s Liberal Democrats are calling for the resignation of Labour’s finance boss and former Council leader Cllr Charles Adje following the publication of a damning report into how, as Alexandra Palace Chair, he pushed through the controversial licence for Firoka to operate in the building. The Liberal Democrats say the revelations in the report show he can’t be trusted to run the boroughs finances.

The report into affairs at Alexandra Palace was published late last week for consideration at an emergency Alexandra Palace board meeting this Friday. Among the most scandalous of many revelations in the report is an assertion that Cllr Adje pushed the controversial licence through for political reasons, so that he could tell the Haringey Labour group’s Annual General Meeting it had been achieved – at which time Cllr Adje was bidding for the job of Labour finance boss.

Whilst Cllr Adje claims to have had limited involvement in the process, the others interviewed for the report indicate that it was he who was driving the ill-fated process forward.

Haringey Liberal Democrat Leader, Cllr Robert Gorrie, comments:

“Firstly, it’s clear that Charles Adje must be removed as soon as possible as the Haringey’s finance chief. There are many damning revelations in the report, but suggestions that Cllr Adje was rushing this disastrous process forward, without proper procedures in place, in order to suit the needs of the Labour Group’s Annual General Meeting is an absolutely scandalous revelation. This point alone requires further serious investigation.

“This politically motivated incompetence has cost Haringey’s taxpayers millions of pounds. Why was Haringey Council so slow to take steps to bring the Palace into line? The Liberal Democrats, and local campaign groups repeatedly raised the issue from last July onwards. Cllr Neil Williams brought it to the Council, to the Cabinet, and to the media. It was raised repeatedly by Lib Dem Ally Pally board member Bob Hare, whose demands for answers were simply brushed aside.

“Following a request by council officers there will now be an action plan to ensure that this does not happen again – but this is as much about incompetence as it is about governance. No amount of procedural changes will protect the Trust from people in charge who have shown they should not be in such positions of authority. That’s why Charles Adje must step down.”

Lynne Featherstone MP adds:

“This is a flagrant abuse of power which appears largely to have been pursued because of political self-interest. This is not someone who should hold the purse strings to half billion pounds of public money through Haringey Council’s finances. Further questions must also be asked how this was able to carry on without the scrutiny of the rest of the Labour party and the Council.”

Note:

Key information contained in the report shows:

1. Alexandra Palace bosses claim they were under pressure from Firoka, yet there is no direct evidence that Firoka were even planning to abandon the development.
2. The absence of alternatives to granting the controversial licence to Firoka is slammed as “unacceptable”.
3. The governance regime over the granting of the licence is found to be “questionable at best”.
4. The dire financial consequences of the licence were not even considered.
5. The lack of liaison with Haringey Council is condemned as “unacceptable”: Haringey Council was not adequately informed of decisions, despite the fact that that Haringey tax payers will have to foot the entire multi-million pound bill.
6. The report raises concerns that there is no explanation for the terrible financial position that the Trust found itself in at that time.