Emergency meeting over future of Bristol Energy

Opposition councillors have forced an emergency meeting over the future of loss-making Bristol Energy.

Members have tabled a motion claiming they have been “gagged” and that the Labour administration is taking big decisions on the city council-owned company without proper scrutiny “behind a legal cloak of commercial confidentiality”.

Deputy mayor Craig Cheney insists the business has a viable future and accused the Conservative and Lib Dem members, who called the extraordinary full council meeting on Friday, March 20, of playing politics immediately before the local elections campaign.

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Bristol City Council has already dedicated £37m of council taxpayers’ money to the energy firm.

But the business has posted total losses so far of £29.7m, including £10.1m in 2018/19, its third year of trading, and is not expected to break even until 2023/24.

All 70 councillors and mayor Marvin Rees will debate the company’s future at the specially convened meeting at City Hall.

Two motions have been tabled – one in public and one to be discussed in exempt session because it involves commercially sensitive information.

For either to become official Bristol City Council policy, they would require support of some Labour members because the party holds the majority in the chamber.

The future of Bristol Energy will be discussed by the full council

The public motion says: “This council is increasingly concerned that all major decisions relating to Bristol Energy are being taken behind a legal cloak of commercial confidentiality.

“By so doing, proper scrutiny of (and accountability for) this – at best – speculative venture is being limited and members unreasonably constrained from expressing concerns about the municipally-owned company.”

It says the latest report to cabinet on March 3, an operational update, was treated as wholly exempt.

“In addition to excluding most members from accessing this deemed sensitive information, the mayor even removed the ability to call-in any decision taken, apparently on the grounds of urgency,” the motion says.

“However, council believes these restrictions are meant to be qualified and not absolute in their operation, nature or scope.

“Information ceases to be exempt when the public interest in disclosure outweighs the supposed public interest in maintaining the exemption.

“In the current circumstances, council asserts that the public’s right or need to know overrides the judgement to withhold knowledge around an enterprise which has already required considerable public investment to underpin its business plan.

“The use of secrecy is also acting as an oppressive gag on members from airing their views or knowledge in this matter.

“This is not acceptable or reasonable.”

If the motion passes, the council would call on Rees to lift the embargoes, give ongoing briefings to all members detailing the available options and “allow an open and honest debate to take place about this company – free from the threat of criminal (or any other) charges, penalties or sanction”.

It would also call on the mayor to reaffirm his commitment not to plough more than the £37.7m already agreed from local authority funds into the business, and inform scrutiny councillors and party group leaders of any payments made under delegated powers within 24 hours.

Speaking on BBC Bristol, Tory group leader Mark Weston said: “We are exercising our right to call a meeting of full council so it can be debated.

“The problem is that the decision was made by a handful of councillors in the cabinet, the information was only scrutinised by about a dozen councillors, so we need to look at the whole information and be party to why that decision was made so my colleagues can form their own judgement and we can debate it.”

Labour deputy mayor and cabinet member for finance Cheney said: “We have brought forward some funding but we have not increased the investment envelope agreed by cabinet two years ago.

“We are working through a range of potential options with some advisers as to whether we might do things differently in the future, so I’m not convinced that not providing more money would mean the end of the company.

“Whatever future there is for Bristol Energy, there is a future.

“I’m a customer of Bristol Energy and I am not concerned.

“We have tried to make sure that a cross-party group of councillors – the overview and scrutiny management board – is provided with the papers and we have an open debate among councillors from all parties. We just wouldn’t usually have that at full council.”

Speaking of the five Conservative and Lib Dem councillors who submitted the motions, Cheney added: “That meeting has been called on the last day before the pre-election period, so I would suggest there is more at play here than just concern about the energy company. There is politics at hand.”

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter for Bristol.

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