Perhaps we should all be grateful that Bradford Council has only paid out around £800,000 following the collapse of a massive deal which would have led to a private company running Bradford Council’s buildings.

After all, Carillion, the company which filed the lawsuit, was asking for a staggering £17 million, and if that had happened it would have been a devastating blow to Council coffers.

Of course, there is no way of telling how likely that was because the matter has been settled out of court, leaving everyone in the dark regarding the strength of the parties’ cases.

But with a court date looming and legal costs climbing, £825,000 probably represented good value in terms of risk management.

The real issue is how on earth did the Council end up in such a potentially vulnerable position, and how did a scheme which was, presumably, supposed to save money, end up costing possibly upwards of £6 million, if Labour estimates are to be believed?

There has already been an Audit Commission report into the Asset Management Project, to give it its proper name, which answered some questions.

Now, with legal matters settled, would be a good time for the Council to publish a blow-by-blow account of what went wrong – drawing on all the information at its disposal.

Then we would be able to judge for ourselves whether there is a need for a fresh, independent inquiry into this shambles, which some are already calling for.