'Key decision' over Northampton Town £10m loan recovery looms as council excludes public from another meeting

Cabinet papers say Northampton Borough Council is holding an urgent meeting to make "the key decision" in regards to recovering the controversial £10million Sixfields loan.
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd May 2018, 18:50 BST
Updated 3rd May 2018, 19:02 BST
The loan money from Northampton Borough Council was intended to pay for a stadium redevelopment, but the work was never completed.The loan money from Northampton Borough Council was intended to pay for a stadium redevelopment, but the work was never completed.
The loan money from Northampton Borough Council was intended to pay for a stadium redevelopment, but the work was never completed.

A private session will be held at the full cabinet meeting on May 9 next week to discuss the botched loan to Northampton Town Football Club in 2013.

But following on a similar meeting on April 25, council papers say cabinet will be making "a decision" on the loan and has moved to exclude the public and press from sitting in on the discussion.

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It is not clear what will be discussed or what the decision will affect.

Police officers removing files from Sixfields in November, 2015. Since a civil battle was launched two-and-a-half years ago, no funds have been recovered.Police officers removing files from Sixfields in November, 2015. Since a civil battle was launched two-and-a-half years ago, no funds have been recovered.
Police officers removing files from Sixfields in November, 2015. Since a civil battle was launched two-and-a-half years ago, no funds have been recovered.

An application to exclude the public from the meeting reads: "Cabinet intends to make a decision on the recovery of Northampton Town Football Club loan money

"Cabinet... intends to hold this meeting in private... The holding of this meeting and the making of this decision is urgent and cannot reasonably be deferred."

Northampton Borough Council handed The Cobblers more than £10.25million to complete a stadium development back in 2013, but only a small proportion of the funds were ever passed on to the stadium builders, the Buckingham Group. The football club later defaulted on the loan repayments to the council.

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It comes after Northamptonshire Police announced in February an investigation into whether the funds were misappropriated was "nearing completion" and begun pouring over "vast quantities" of documents to prepare a report for the Crown Prosecution Service.

No funds have ever been recovered.

Last week, the BBC reported the borough council had spent more than £1million in legal fees trying to recover the loan.

Related topics:Northampton TownSixfieldsBuckingham GroupNorthamptonshire PoliceBBC