RESIDENTS of a street in Skipton dogged by the building of new houses are angry Craven District Council has not made public the findings of an investigation into the purchase of one of the homes by its chief executive.

And the stance also flies in the face of recommendations by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The local authority says it welcomes the findings of the report, which it says confirms there was no wrongdoing on the part of chief executive, Paul Shevlin, but says it will not publish it until it has "considered its response".

This week, Granville Street resident Jane Houlton said she and her fellow residents looked forward to the council publishing a full copy of the report, but questioned why it was taking so long.

She added: "We don’t really understand why the council has resisted publication for so long when the contents of the report are apparently not detrimental to it, or to individuals, or why it did not simply publish the report when we first asked?"

An independent review concluded the decision by the chief executive to buy a house at Lambert Hills from its own development partner, Lovells, did not bring the local authority into disrepute.

Independent consultant, Liz Bashforth, concluded she could see no wrongdoing in the council's negotiations with Lovells regarding the Granville Street development and proposed new homes at Horse Close, both in Skipton, following Mr Shevlin's purchase of a property at Granville Street.

Jane Houlton, on behalf of Granville Street residents, asked for a copy of the report, but received a document with details omitted under 'release of personal data of a third party' exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act.

A further request for the full report to be published was made to the Information Commissioner's Office, whose decision was recently released.

The Commissioner found that: "A disclosure of the information would allow the public to satisfy themselves that the actions of the chief executive had not led to their calls for sanctions against the developer to be ignored, or the subsequent decision to allow the developer to purchase another site for development swayed in any way.

"Effectively, a disclosure of the information would create a greater trust in the actions of the council over the issue. The public... has a legitimate interest in being able to understand what actions the chief executive took, and when, in order to ensure there was no conflict of interest. A disclosure of the information would simply clarify that his actions were appropriate and would demonstrate why the report had found no suggestion of improper behaviour."

A sCraven District Council spokesman said: "We welcome the comments in the decision of the Information Commissioner’s Office that acknowledge the independent report is clear in finding there was no wrongdoing on the part of the chief executive or the council, and that the chief executive’s actions were appropriate.

“The council is currently considering its response to the ICO’s decision and, in the meantime, the report will not be published.”

lWhat do you think? We welcome letters on this or any other subject. E-mail richard.parker@nqyne.co.uk or write to the Content Editor, Craven Herald, 38 High Street, Skipton BD23 1JU. Please include your full name, address and daytime telephone number.