Building costs at controversial Black Country arts centre The Public spiralled out of control when builders refused to tender for contracts on site, it has been revealed.
When the original developers, The Public Limited, went into administration in 2006 existing contracts were terminated, and some companies only agreed to come back on site if they were paid on a premium “time and materials basis”. This contributed to a sharp increase in costs and forced Sandwell Council to hand over an extra £3 million bringing the total to £57 million.
In a report, discussed by councillors behind closed doors last week, it was revealed that certain contracts were particularly difficult to sort out.
Four contractors were invited to take on the ceiling and partition work, four invited for building work and three for cleaning, with not a single company returning with an offer on any of them.
Councillors said contractors had them “over a barrel” and said they were forced to pay out to get the work finished.
On June 26 this year the funding shortfall was £2,748,389, a figure which excludes final negotiations with all trade contractors, consultants and artists - over 50 contracts in total.
In it the council admits that the main increases in funding required relate to the construction element of the project.
Councillor Steve Eling, deputy leader and cabinet member for strategic resources, said: “There were difficulties in getting contractors on board. To be honest they had us over a barrel.
“Had The Public not gone into administration they would have completed the contracts. There is no doubt that this has cost us a lot more than it would have done.
“To a certain extent these are specialist contractors and to get them back after contracts had been cancelled was difficult.”
Councillor Tony Ward, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said: “I can’t believe the council allowed itself to be put in this position.”
6 Comments
Stop trying to pass the blame Sandwell Council, you negotiated the original contracts. Read the small print next time or sack the people involved with negotiations. All the end of the day its our money you wasted and therefore you must be held to account.
The sound of resignations pouring in is deafening !
I don’t think an extra £3m on a total cost of £57m
is that bad, given cost overruns on most construction projects.
The bills aren’t in on Walsall’s ring road yet, but I bet that’s over budget.
Look at what happened at Wembley.
Even my mate’s extension cost twice the estimate.
You just can’t trust the builders’ sums…
to have made a slip up like this is a crime i always thought these councilers were clever i think the best thing that they should do is pay for it themselves or resign its no good having these people in charge of finances when it is very clear they dont know what they are doing i sincerly hope they dont ask for acouncil tax rise next year
Why was this built in the first place?
I can never understand how something of this magnitude could have been built in the first place, why were our wishes constantly ignored.
This was built against the wishes of the Sandwell Electorate.
Why are we having to foot the bill for this monstrosity.
There has to be an investigation into why Sandwell’s Labour Council chose to burden the rate payers with this debt.
Jim of Bearwood
Building an unwanted structure, gilded with super expensive extras, steering the original contract to a shaky firm of political insiders, which is so incompetent that it goes belly up and stops payment to its subcontractors, then finding that the finishing subs are going to only work T and M to finish an aborted job where nobody knows what shoddiness and rework awaits them, still coming in less than six percent over original bid, and now to top it all, having the cheek to blame it all on the subs!! Doesn’t this just sound like the Labour Party? Oh people of Britain, when will you have the common sense to abandon the liars of the big three parties!! Know you not that political corruption can only be cleansed by periodic revolutions either by ballot or if that fails by bloody conflict, either way to get that renewing clean sweep, you must have the new broom, free from the graft and corruption that covers the establishment parties like rust and rot on a derelict ship. JB