West Midlands Police cell builders facing £1m delays fine

The 60-cell facility in Bromford Lane, Oldbury, should have opened in June last year and the suite in Holford Drive, Perry Barr, was due to open in November as part of a £20m deal.

Now builders Willmott Dixon say the Perry Barr site won't be ready until the end of this month at the earliest and a provisional date of March 21 has been set for the Oldbury block.

Chief Constable Dave Thompson said his faith in the firm, which is also carrying out the £33m revamp of the force's Lloyd House HQ, had been 'dented'.

Design errors had previously been blamed on the delays.

He said: "The force's confidence is low. We have dealt with the contractor on several levels and also involved with the previous chief constable who raised concerns.

"The contract made provision that the company would incur a penalty if there were delays in completing the work.

"The current penalty is just under £1m, currently standing at £915,000. But looking at the expected date of handover it will exceed £1m.

"Our aim is to ensure these properties are delivered as soon as possible because we want custody blocks not cash.

"We will see if the work has progressed. There is another contract Willmott Dixon has to refurbish Lloyd House, but as to date there is no delay to that.

"When built these will be flagship state-of-the art facilities.

"The delay means we have incurred costs through the lost of opportunities and lost efficiency which is frustrating.

"Our confidence has been dented somewhat."

Mr Thompson added that the delay had posed a 'challenge' for cell capacity.

Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: "It is welcome that West Midlands Police has robust procedures in place to make sure that when contractors overrun the public do not lose out financially.

"The robust steps that we have taken will mean that West Midlands Police will receive a significant sum because of the builder's delays. This is responsible and sound management of public assets and public money."