Bedford council refuses to reveal property deals - which were already public

Bedford’s mayor approved three executive decisions (1769, 1770 and 1771) on November 22, 2024 to purchase three properties for use as temporary accommodation.

Since then, repeated requests from the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) for the accompanying reports to explain the decisions have been refused, with officers claiming they were “confidential” under rules designed to protect commercially sensitive negotiations.

But in December, Bromham Parish Council was told some of the details the borough council said it could not disclose.

The meeting’s minutes record that the borough council had invested £6.5 million into temporary accommodation, acquiring 31 self-contained apartments.

The properties include:

• 52 Chandos Street (1769) – 10 two-bedroom family apartments, projected savings £248,124 a year
• 34 Alexandra Road (1770)– 12 units for individuals and families, saving £325,781 a year
• St John’s Terrace (1771) – 9 two-bedroom apartments, saving £228,528 a year.

Together, the council expected to save more than £800,000 a year compared with hotel accommodation, with the potential for a 40 per cent discount on the Chandos Street purchase if national funding criteria were met.

Despite this information being placed on public record in December, the council continued to refuse to publish the reports, even after the LDRS submitted a formal complaint.

The complaint asked whether a public summary of each decision exists, and if so, where it can be accessed; what specific elements of each decision were considered exempt and on what grounds; and whether the council will consider releasing a non-exempt version or redacted summary of the decision reports to ensure transparency.

But the council insisted that the reports were not for publication due to the “commercially sensitive nature” of the information

Under the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, councils must publish a written summary of the business conducted in private, leaving out only the parts that are legally exempt.

Instead, the borough added the word “confidential” to the decision notices only after questions were asked, and has since refused to release even redacted versions of the reports.

A council spokesperson said: “Bedford Borough Council has an ambitious property acquisition programme to address the short supply of cost effective, good quality temporary accommodation.

“This is an invest to save capital programme that delivers revenue cost avoidance as compared to the cost of expensive hotel or nightly rate accommodation. This strategic approach has been shared in a number of public committee meetings and published openly in a range of documents including:

Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Strategy (January 2024)

Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024 – 2029; (June 2024)

Housing Transformation Programme (June 2024)”Individual property acquisition details which may reveal location, vendor or price are deemed commercially sensitive and not for publication during the purchase negotiation stage.

“Once property purchases are completed, this information will be published.”