Manchester City Council has been accused of 'blocking' emails to councillors which included correspondence about public loans to Abu Dhabi and the region's housing loans fund.
Six emails were sent to the council between October 25 and November 2 by Ben Rose, a Trafford resident who has corresponded with Manchester council at times on behalf of the Weis Group, a property developer. Copies of the emails, which have been shared with the Manchester Evening News (MEN), were sent to various political leaders in the city and around Greater Manchester.
Reform UK Leader Says Emails Never Arrived
Councillor Sian Astley, leader of Manchester's Reform UK group, said the emails never arrived in her inbox. "I know that emails were blocked from being delivered to me without my knowledge and that is unacceptable," she added. "Have they also been blocked from reaching other councillors of other parties? As far as I am aware, they contained information which did not compromise any legal cases and there was no reason for the emails to be blocked. I am still awaiting the emails to be forwarded, despite formally asking for them."
One of the 'blocked' emails from Ben Rose sent on October 26 was addressed to John Leech, a Lib Dem councillor in Manchester who chairs the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) overview and scrutiny committee, as well as other committee members including Sian Astley. The email stated that papers for public loans to Abu Dhabi and Renaker - a property developer in Manchester - had not been shared. It also included previous correspondence sent to the Greater Manchester mayor asking questions about Manchester council's purchase of central retail park.
Council Says Emails Redirected, Not Blocked
Manchester council said the emails to its councillors were not 'blocked' but 'redirected' to its city solicitor. A council spokesperson said: "The council received a notice of anticipated litigation proceeding from solicitors acting on behalf of the Weis Group which clearly stated that the council should not correspond directly with their clients or with individuals acting on their behalf - which includes a Mr Ben Rose."
"To act accordingly with the request of the Weis Group's solicitors and to ensure correspondence does not prejudice future legal process - and given the volume and nature of emails received by Mr Rose in particular about matters connected with those anticipated proceedings - correspondence is being redirected to the city solicitor's office for review. Following review, where the email concerns matters unconnected with the anticipated proceedings or to an elected members role, then the email will be forwarded on with appropriate advice."
The spokesperson added that it was 'not correct to suggest that emails are blocked', and explained that the council will 'consult with elected members on the contents of emails'. The town hall spokesman added: "This is a similar proportionate approach taken in 2024 when the council was again put on notice by Mr Rose ahead of anticipated legal action and following repeated allegations sent to multiple officers. The council has a duty of care in regard to the wellbeing of officers and elected members and centralising correspondence supports this, while also ensuring that correspondence does not undermine the legal process."
Resident Disputes Council's Account
The M.E.N has read copies of the six emails from Ben Rose sent between October 25 and November 2. Emails sent on November 2, October 30, and October 28 included a chain of messages with an email from Sherrards, a firm of solicitors, writing to Manchester council on October 16 with notice of anticipated legal proceedings. But the three emails sent by Mr Rose to councillors on October 26 and October 25 did not appear to make any reference to legal action. The two emails on October 25 were focused on the Greater Manchester Housing Investment Loans Fund and affordable housing viability in schemes by Renaker.
Ben Rose has disputed the council's statement. He said: "The council says it is acting on a request from the Weis Group's solicitors, it is not. I am told that the Weis' solicitors wrote to the Manchester City Council solicitor on October 28 that this is not what their letter says and that they had not asked for it. They also told her that councillors and officers may write to me directly. I am not their client in this matter. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority received the same notice and has done nothing of the kind. The other councillors in Greater Manchester got my emails the day I sent them. Only at Manchester City Council does a voter's letter to an elected member go first to the officer whose decisions it questions. The council says nothing is blocked. If that is so, councillors should have had these emails within minutes, as they would anyone else's. At least one councillor received my submissions to the committee they sit on only after she asked for them. Councillors are elected to read their constituents' letters, not to be protected from them by the Manchester City Council solicitor."
The council said the notice of anticipated legal proceedings 'requested that the council does not correspond directly with their clients or with any individual acting on their behalf in relation to the matters identified within that notice.' The spokesperson added: "The subsequent correspondence received from Mr Rose clearly relates to matters linked to potential litigation and as such it is appropriate that such correspondence should not be widely disseminated to officers and members within the council. We reiterate that emails are not blocked and arrangements are in place to forward emails where appropriate and with legal advice. And we will engage with members on this approach to ensure it respects their role as elected officials."
Previous Blocking Request in 2024
The MEN has seen the email from Manchester council's city solicitor in January 2024 making a request to 'block' emails from Ben Rose. The city solicitor said in the 2024 email: "Mr Rose keeps emailing and cc lots of people, from all Manchester.gov.uk addresses can they be blocked and just come through to me."
Ben Rose added: "As for 2024, the council's statement gets the order materially wrong. The city solicitor asked for my emails to be blocked on January 11, 2024, two months before any solicitor's letter reached the council. Grosvenor Law's letters went on March 12, 2024. When she eventually told me on February 6, 2024, some 26 days later, she said nothing about litigation. It had nothing to do with legal action then, and it has nothing to do with it now. That time the un-notified and totally unjustified block remained in place for 23 months."
The issue of emails being 'redirected' and not arriving in councillors' inboxes has caused concern within the town hall. Reform UK Councillor Sian Astley added in her statement: "I was not informed by Manchester City Council officers that the emails existed, that they'd been intercepted or that a decision had been made by officers to do this. I found this out by chance. I do not at the moment know if senior Labour executive members were aware of this decision, but I have asked. Members of the public must have the confidence that their emails will be delivered to their elected councillors without interference. They may be communicating sensitive personal or financial information, they may be whistle-blowers, they may be only contacting their councillor with that query or information. These electronic communications should never be intercepted by unelected council officers without a thorough, documented and transparent process having been gone through, and that process being communicated to all members / councillors."
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was asked if it had redirected or blocked any emails from Ben Rose.
