Council seeks urgent clarification after law firm in receipt of grant changes hands

Bolton Council has said it is seeking urgent clarification about a reported change of ownership in a law firm to which it controversially gave a £300,000 loan under emergency powers.

According to a report on The Bolton News, Asons Solicitors has announced that it has been taken over by Coops Law, with all staff transferring across.

The firm reportedly said it would honour the terms and conditions of the grant it received from the council.

The £300,000 grant was given to the claimant personal injury firm to help with the refurbishment of an office in the town centre.

In November 2016 the leader of Bolton, Cllr Cliff Morris, ordered an independent audit amid the row over the grant.

In January this year the council’s chief executive, Margaret Asquith, said at a corporate and external issues scrutiny meeting that it was not unusual for local authorities to give grants to support businesses, but she accepted that emergency powers should “probably” not have been used to approve one in this case.

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said: “Asons have not contacted the council about any change in ownership. We are seeking urgent clarification from Asons and, should the grant conditions have been breached, we will take immediate and robust steps to recover the payment.”