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Walsall Civic Centre to get £375,000 revamp

Walsall's Civic Centre will be given a revamp to the tune of £375,000 – despite the council needing to make millions of pounds in savings.

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The building is being lined up for investment for 'essential maintenance' this year, according to a council report.

It comes despite the cash-strapped authority needing to save £85 million over four years, and workers having their pay cut under proposals.

Bosses have defended the plans for investment of £376,171 in this financial year, which is due to see energy efficient lighting installed to save costs.

Council leader Mike Bird said work has already been undertaken to make it open plan and visitor friendly.

"You have got to bear in mind we have got hundreds of people working in that building and essential maintenance is essential maintenance. It is a huge complex," he said.

Despite the need to make savings, the authority has been looking at improving premises to generate income.

This includes potential investment of up to £1m in the town hall to create a fit-for-purpose venue for concerts and events.

It comes at a time when around 4,000 workers are facing a pay cut of two per cent.

Although bosses have said this is better than axing around 150 jobs.

The proposals, which mean staff would be required to take three days unpaid leave per year, aim to save the authority £3.7m a year, with a further one-off saving of £3.7m.

Police officers in Walsall are due to move into the civic centre by the end of the year in the first phase of closing the main town centre station.

Officers will move out by December, with the rest going to the Bloxwich station by next summer. West Midlands Police revealed in 2013 that it was planning to close the Green Lane site in Walsall in a bid to save up to £500,000 a year in maintenance.

It was said then that up to 200 officers would relocate to the Darwall Street civic centre, or Bloxwich, with the base in Station Street becoming the main headquarters.

There were previous plans for a new £13m HQ in the town centre, initially earmarked for Hatherton Street, but these were scrapped a number of years ago.

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