Coventry City Council

A Labour councillor who said he would "stamp" on a political rival who reported him for failing to disclose business interests has escaped punishment for the comment.

Councillor Rois Ali also told an independent investigator he would take Coventry City councillor Tim Mayer "to the cleaners" but a council committee, made up of four Labour councillors and one Conservative ruled the comments weren't disrespectful, because they weren't made in public.

Coventry City Council

Mr Ali was found to have breached two codes over the failure to disclose his interests and has been given a formal letter of censure and told to take further training.

He said he found the system complicated and wanted to "apologise to all those who may be affected".

Coventry City Council has been shortlisted in the Council of the Year category for the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards.

Coventry City Council

The announcement comes as it's revealed complaints to the local authority rose to an all-time high last year.

The Local Government Ombudsman received 136 complaints for the period April 2017 to March 2018, up 29.5%.

The figure is also the highest percentage of complaints upheld since 2005, and higher than any other in the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Coventry City Council is pressing ahead with plans which could see them pay £4.3m to kit out its staff with Microsoft computer software, despite fears it is being "held to ransom" by the computing giant.

BBC

The cabinet has agreed to renew a three-year licence with Microsoft when the council's existing £823,000-a-year deal expires next March.

A like-for-like renewal is now estimated to set them back £1,073,000 per year – a 30% increase – with further £365,000-a-year costs for a Skype licence pushing the total for three years to £4.3m.

At a council meeting, leader George Duggins said the local authority was caught "between a rock and a hard place" due to a lack of alternative suppliers.

Microsoft has previously said it would not be commenting on the claims.

A Coventry councillor, who threatened to "stamp" on a colleague and "take him to the cleaners" during an investigation into his business declarations, has been found to have breached the council's code of ethics, a report says.

Labour councillor Rois Ali was elected in May 2016 to the city's Cheylesmore seat, and was accused by Conservative Tim Mayer of failing to declare his business interests within the 28 day deadline.

Coventry City Council

The independent report found Mr Ali had not acted dishonestly in that he had not made any personal gain and that he had "not deliberately sought to conceal his interests," but had breached the council's code on four occasions.

During the course of the investigation Mr Ali made comments in respect of Mr Mayer including that he would "stamp on him", breaching the code of respect, the report said.

In a written response to the report Mr Ali said he agreed he had "technically" breached the code but that the rules surrounding the declaration of interests are "complicated and confusing".

He denied acting disrespectfully to a colleague as his comments needed to be "taken in context of the conversation".

The complaint will be discussed at a meeting of the councils ethics committee on 6 November.

A Coventry City councillor says the authority is being "held captive" by Microsoft, because it will have to pay £4.3m to renew its licences to use the software over the next three years.

The cost of the licence has risen by 30% since it was last agreed in 2015, and Councillor Ken Taylor said the authority needed to look at alternatives before the next contract expires.

Getty Images

But a report to the council pointed out there were "few alternative competitors" and warned moving to another operating system would "cause a significant amount of disruption".

And the member responsible for finance and resources, John Mutton said: "There is nothing that we can do about it."

The BBC has approached Microsoft for a comment.

It’s totally unacceptable that Microsoft is increasing its licences charges way above the rate of inflation without regard of the cost to the public purse. I know it is difficult to change supplier but we as a council should be looking at alternatives for the future so the we are not held captive like this again.”

The £5m Arts Council funding for Coventry's City of Culture events is a "real vote of confidence", the leader of the city council, George Duggins, has said.

The funding, which was announced yesterday, will help contribute to cultural events alongside the build-up period and legacy programme.

Coventry City Council

Martin Sutherland, the CEO of Coventry City of Culture Trust, added: “This scale of backing and funding from Arts Council England will be a major contribution."

This is great news for Coventry and a real boost to the city as excitement grows in the build up to 2021. The announcement is a real vote of confidence in the city’s ability to deliver a fantastic programme to ensure Coventry has an amazing year as City of Culture and, importantly, creates a lasting legacy for our communities."

People in Nuneaton and Bedworth could be asked to pay an extra £40 a year to get the borough council to take away their green waste.

The council is considering introducing the charge as a way of off-setting budget cuts.

BBC

The Green Party has complained the move could put people off recycling.

Coventry City Council will today find out if its sale of a 50% share of the Ricoh Arena, to Wasps Rugby Club, is to be at the centre of a judicial review.

Getty Images

Court of Appeal judges will hand down a decision today.

Lawyers for Coventry City FC argued the rugby club should pay an extra £27m for the ground.

The football club says it is hoping to come to a deal with Wasps to extend its tenancy at the Ricoh Arena.

Court of Appeal judges will decide tomorrow if a full judicial review should be held into the sale of Coventry's Ricoh Arena to Wasps Rugby Club.

Getty Images

The row concerns the city council's sale of its 50% share in the stadium to Wasps in 2014, with Coventry City FC wanting a full legal review.

Its lawyers argued the rugby club should pay an extra £27m for the ground.

The football club's deal to play at the Ricoh runs out in the summer - and landlords Wasps say they won't agree a new one while legal action continues.