City council settles claim by supported housing company

Coventry City Council has settled litigation that arose from a lengthy dispute with a local facility that provides supported housing.

The BBC has reported that the Local Government Ombudsman in 2015 found three examples of maladministration and injustice in the council's dealings with Open Doors.

Open Doors director John Kavangah claimed his operation had been subjected to a witch hunt by the council.

Despite local publicity, the ombudsman service insisted that its original report remained confidential as individuals could be identified from it.

A spokesman said the service had found maladministration and injustice on the part of the council, which had since complied with its recommendations, the nature of which he declined to give.

Coventry said in a statement: “The council confirms that it has settled Mr Kavanagh’s and Open Doors Housing and Support Limited’s claims, none of the allegations made against it were accepted or proven and there was no admission of liability by the council.

“The sums paid to Open Doors and Mr Kavanagh are a small fraction of the sums they claimed, and settlement is on terms that some of the legal costs of the council have to be paid by Open Doors. When deciding to settle, the council was keen to end the drain on management time and resources caused by this litigation.

“Where the ombudsman recommended that Coventry gave apologies, it did so promptly and fully, and this happened some years ago.”

The size of payments to Mr Kavanagh and Open Doors remained undisclosed.

Open Doors has been approached for comment.