Bramley-Moore Dock stadium: Everton to pay £350,000 to Liverpool council

Everton are being asked to pay about £350,000 to Liverpool City Council over a failed funding plan for the club's new ground.

An "outstanding dispute" has existed since the council spent £700,000 on fees preparing to offer the club a loan before construction started on the Bramley-Moore Dock stadium.

The club secured funding elsewhere.

Government-appointed commissioners have previously said there had been a "failure of governance" by the council.

Between 2016 and 2019, the authority explored the possibility of lending money to Everton for its new stadium, reported at the time to be about £280m.

The then-mayor Joe Anderson proposed the plan as part of his "invest to earn" strategy.

It would have seen the council borrow the money at a low interest rate and lend it to the club, which would repay it with interest.

Those funds were expected to have been used for council services.

The club later secured funding elsewhere, however the council had already spent money on the due diligence process.

A review by commissioners, who have been appointed by the government to oversee parts of the council, said some of the payments were "irrecoverable", adding that the authority had "failed to adequately manage costs".

"The council incurred significant expenditure to investigate the possibility of a loan to EFC without any formal council approval and without any budget provision approval," it said.

The review also found that the council "failed to secure a cost indemnity to protect its position on fees and has been in negotiation with EFC for a number of years to reach a settlement, again without any council approvals in place".

It added that there had been a "failure of governance" and have ordered a "lessons learned" report.

The report said the council's deputy chief executive may write off any debt that arises from the difference between the invoice raised by the council and the settlement reached, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

At a council meeting, deputy mayor Jane Corbett said: "Both sides have worked incredibly hard and have been keen to resolve this particular issue and to come up with a mutually-agreed negotiated settlement."

The 52,000-seater Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, now estimated to cost £500m, is expected to be completed in 2024.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]