NOTTINGHAM City Council has refused to call for the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate how the police handled the housing allocation scandal.

Council watchdog the Audit Commission detailed nine cases where homes had been wrongfully allocated between 2003 and 2005.

But they identified almost 3,000 instances during the three-year period under review where council houses were allocated outside the standard procedures.

Some properties received tens of thousands of pounds of investment and were then bought at a discount under the right-to-buy scheme.

In December the council said it had gone "as far as it could" over the matter – but no houses have been repossessed and no staff have lost their jobs. Only one written warning has been issued.

The Post then revealed earlier this year that Notts Police never launched a criminal investigation into the scandal and agreed five years ago to let the council look into the matter itself.

The council leader Councillor Jon Collins walked out of the full council meeting on the two occasions when the matter was discussed on Monday.

The Post understands he told Labour members he could not speak because he is also the chairman of the Notts Police Authority.

However, he did not declare an interest at the meeting and the city council confirmed yesterday he had no reason to declare an interest.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Tony Sutton warned fellow councillors that "the public will never trust you ever again," if they failed to back his proposal calling for the IPCC to investigate how the police handled the case.

Deputy leader of Nottingham City Council, Councillor Graham Chapman, said it would not change anything if the council called for such an investigation.

Mr Sutton had written to the IPCC calling for an independent review into police conduct. This has now been referred to the professional standards department of Notts Police.

Speaking at the full council meeting on Monday, Mr Sutton said: "It was a scandal for the police to leave it to the council that let these things happen to the deal with it themselves." He said the council knew about the problems in 2004 when an internal audit report showed housing offers were being made inappropriately.

And he said a 2006 internal report highlighted that potential corruption took place within management of Nottingham's housing service.

Conservative councillor Georgina Culley added: "This has been a scandal that's been hanging around this council, I would think at least for a decade."

The district auditor previously said the council had taken a "robust approach" over the council's efforts to repossess homes wrongly allocated.

Mr Chapman, who led the debate for Labour said there was a "great deal of insinuation" of a conspiracy between the council, police, district auditor and the Labour party to cover up the scandal.

He said this was "so improbable", arguing it is too difficult to create such a large conspiracy and adding: "Why would we want to cover up? The easiest thing for us would have been to get a few heads rolling, get a few martyrs – guilty or not guilty – prosecuted and we could have got on with it.

"There is no audit trail, not on computer systems and when we look at the bits of information written down it doesn't stick – that's your problem and it's been everyone's problem.

"We referred it on to the police. If we couldn't make it stick in civil terms, which we tried to, then the chance of making it stick in criminal terms is far harder."

He claimed the council investigation had cost £150,000 to date – but just a month ago, a council report said it had cost £100,000.

At the meeting, Mr Sutton moved a motion calling for the professional standards directorate of Notts Police to request the IPCC to independently review the police investigation.

Mr Chapman said: "The process won't change one iota if this council backs it, it could have the opposite effect.

"If something needs investigating it will be done so on its own merit – not on the backing of a load of politicians."

Mr Sutton told the council that in 2009, after the Audit Commission published its report, Labour refused to call on the police to launch an investigation after being asked by Lib Dem and Tory councillors.

This time he said, all parties should back the motion.

"If you have nothing to fear, then why wouldn't you welcome an independent review by the IPCC? If you don't the public will never trust you ever again – and they will be right," he said.

The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives voted in favour of the motion, but it was defeated by Labour. Every Labour councillor voted against.

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