Express & Star

Update on Civic Hall refurb to be given next week

Finance bosses at Wolverhampton Council will ask for an update on the refurbishment of the Civic Hall – now £23.6 million over budget – when the city’s audit committee meets next week.

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The Civic Hall

The panel is due to undertake a ‘lessons learnt review’ for three of the council’s recent major capital investment projects – the Civic Hall makeover, the markets relocation and the interchange project to redevelop the city’s railway station.

At a recent council meeting, councillors were unable to provide fellow members or the public with any definitive answers as to when the refurbishment will finally be completed and how much the total cost will be.

Councillor Craig Collingswood, who will chair next week’s Audit and Risk Committee meeting, told colleagues that he had recently undertaken a site visit to the Civic Hall to check on progress, but left none the wiser.

He said: “I think a lot of members came away feeling very worried. The question needs to be asked, is this project going ahead as it should be? We need a timeframe as to when this is going to be completed.”

Councillor John Reynolds, the council’s cabinet member for City Economy, replied: “The lead contractor for the work being done at the Civic Hall took the time to meet with us and went through all the costs, what the final total would be and the proposed timeframe expected for the refurbishments to be completed, although at present it is still difficult to identify exactly when this will be.”

The focus of the Audit and Risk Committee is on the wider issues affecting control of the project rather than the financial monitoring and delivery of the actual programme.

Wolverhampton Council’s director of finance, Claire Nye, said: “The report due for discussion next week is designed to provide an update on any progress made in implementing lessons learnt recommendations – specifically in respect of the Civic Hall restoration. And it was agreed that regular updates would be provided to the committee in terms of progress. Stabilisation of the programme’s financial position will still be subject to continuous review.”

At present, work to clear asbestos from the premises is continuing, which will allow the contractors to begin construction once a detailed design has been signed off. The programme is currently awaiting a detailed design from the architects to be approved in time for phase two of the refurbishment to begin in March 2019.

Wolverhampton Council’s Audit and Risk Committee will discuss any further progress at a meeting next week.

By Joe Sweeney.