Sandwell Council leader Steve Eling dragged into land deals row
A council leader has been dragged into a long-running row over controversial land deals.
Steve Eling should be brought before an investigative committee to answer questions over a property removed from public auction in Sandwell as he would have known about the deal, it has been claimed.
Councillor Ian Jones, who is accused of breaching the code of conduct over the property, said it was his intention to call the Sandwell Council leader as a witness at his own hearing.
Mr Jones, Labour member for Tipton Green, is accused of asking officers to remove the property from the auction in February 2011 at the request of the then council leader Darren Cooper, who died in March last year.
A report said that the property was subsequently lined up to be sold to a family member of Councillor Mohammad Rouf at a price ‘significantly below’ what it was eventually sold for under a sealed bid process a year later – also to a relative of Mr Rouf.
Mr Jones denies any wrongdoing and appeared at a council standards hearing on Friday where his request for an adjournment was successful as he claimed he had not had enough time to organise legal representation.
He insisted he is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’ and accused the authority of ‘maladministration’.
However, he was told his attempt to bring Councillor Eling before the standards committee could fail as the leader’s presence may not be ‘relevant’ to the investigation surrounding the events of 2011.
At the time, Councillor Eling was cabinet member for finance and Mr Jones claimed decisions made over the property in question would have gone through the now leader – something Mr Eling has denied.
Mr Jones told the hearing: “He was cabinet member for strategic finance. Nothing moves in this council without the strategic member for legal finance agreeing it.”
Councillor Eling said: “It wouldn’t have had to go through me. He was the cabinet member in relation to land.
He added: “He hasn’t asked me to appear as a witness.”
Mr Jones, who is the former cabinet member for jobs and economy, was suspended by the borough’s Labour party earlier this year following allegations of intimidation. He strongly disputed the claims.
He won a High Court injunction lifting his suspension, and was cleared of any wrongdoing.“I thought that would have been done before the meeting. It is a complete lack of common courtesy.
“Whether I have got anything to contribute I don’t know, nobody has asked me to contribute anything so far.”
