COUNCIL chiefs have been at the centre of a political storm since news broke in November about the decision to award Asons Solicitors a £300,000 grant.

Town hall leaders were accused of “running a dictatorship” when it was revealed in The Bolton News that the council had used its emergency powers procedure to assist the law firm with the refurbishment of its offices in Churchgate.

Asons moved into Newspaper House, the former home of The Bolton News, last summer and was given the grant in order to help keep jobs in the town centre.

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Opposition leaders said that the council showed a “complete disregard” for proper procedures and criticised a lack of scrutiny, as questions were raised over the grant’s justification and the nature of the decision.

The council broke its silence on the issue in December, when Cllr Ebrahim Adia, the council’s executive cabinet member for development and regeneration, said that the grant had been awarded under the emergency powers procedure — which should only be used in ‘urgent’ cases — in order to start the state aid ratification process and reassure Asons that their informal agreement with officers had political backing.

Margaret Asquith, the council’s chief executive, admitted in January that emergency powers should “probably” not have been used to make the decision.

Concerns were also raised over what proof the council had of the grant being spent on the refurbishment work and how certain terms of the grant would be monitored, such as the number of staff employed by Asons in Churchgate.

Had those conditions not been met, then the grant could have been terminated — as has now happened following the announcement that Asons Solicitors ceased trading on Friday.

Cllr Cliff Morris, the council leader, has been the subject of severe criticism over the controversy.

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside a town hall meeting in November and a petition calling for him to step down was handed to the mayor at last month’s council meeting.

Cllr Morris said that he hoped the repayment of the grant would put an end to the personal attacks on his leadership.

He said: “It would be nice to think that this will put a lid on it for me, but I am not naive enough to think it will.

“There will always be questions asked. It is now about how we move forward and what we learn from this, both politically and for the council officers.

“We have learned about our emergency powers procedure. It is incumbent upon me to make sure the opposition know and have the same report that we have if a decision is taken under emergency powers.

“If it is not then, then they can come to the relevant meeting.”

An independent audit of the council’s decision to award the grant is currently being carried out by KPMG and its findings are expected in June.