Council leader orders independent audit in row over £300k grant to law firm

The Leader of Bolton Council has ordered an independent audit amid a row over the local authority’s decision to make a grant worth a reported £300,000 to a law firm in the town.

The decision to make the grant to Asons Solicitors, a claimant personal injury firm, was reportedly taken under an emergency powers procedure. The monies were intended to assist the firm with an office move.

However, The Bolton News reported that the award of the grant had been criticised by other law firms in Bolton.

Craig Morris, a partner at Fieldings Porter, told the paper: “The starting point in all of this is that most lawyers live a comfortable life in comparison to many other people who are struggling through the back end of years of public austerity.

“We shouldn’t be at the front of the queue for public handouts, there are far more deserving causes and the focus for successful law firms should be what we can put back into the local community.”

But in a statement Cllr Cliff Morris, Leader of Bolton, insisted that the council had a long-standing commitment to supporting the local economy.

He said: “Financial transparency and trust at this challenging time is more important than ever and this is why I am calling for a full independent audit of this investment to reassure the public. As always, the council’s legal team checked all aspects of the agreement to ensure that we are complying with the law and our processes, and I am confident that an external audit will confirm this.”

Cllr Morris added: “I remain committed to supporting our local businesses and I have argued in the past that we allocate one-off monies to support our local economy, investment and jobs – which is no secret. The council has invested around £3m over the past two years in our local economy to help it grow at a very challenging time for our high streets.

“There has been a suggestion that the money could have been used differently – for example to fund 30 apprenticeships. Our agreement with ASONS guarantees that 263 jobs will be retained in the town centre for at least the next five years – which has a much higher impact on our economy, and underpins our ability to continue supporting apprenticeships across the borough.”

Cllr Morris also claimed that within that time the council’s investment would be repaid through the law firms' business rates, which the authority estimated to be more than £460,000. This would be reinvested across the borough.

“This is on top of the value from retaining the firm in the town centre, which should return £10m to our local economy over the next five years. If we had not invested in this project, we would have been left with two empty town centre buildings, and a significant loss of income as a result,” he added.

Asons have been approached for comment.