By Victoria Mckeown-
Croydon’s bankrupt council is set to pick up another £69.2million-worth of costs associated with the bungled and unfinished refurbishment of the Fairfield Halls, according to a report
The Council is the second to go bankrupt after Northampton-shire council became caught short in 2018. Government cuts and hardships caused by the pandemic have not helped.
The battered council is being forced to hire more consultants to check on the work of Brick by Brick and its contractors, another burden they could do without.
Strangely enough, one of Britain’s most notorious councils loaned Brick by Brick £200m since the formation the company in 2015, but have not bee repaid a single penny. Croydon Council is expected to pursue the company for the debt which contributed to the council’s bankruptcy last year, and virtually affected all facets of its operation.
The Monday’s meeting is its first in-person gathering to be held in the Town Hall Chamber since March 2020, though some special Covid safety measures will be in place.
Talks have been in process with a sole bidder to buy Brick by Brick at least since April.
The report to Monday’s cabinet meeting says the council is in the process of scrapping its contracts with Brick by Brick for the Fairfield project, and taking the matter back to get the job done, properly.
“There are apparently no disputes with contractors,” the report states, with a suggestion of a sigh of relief, “but there may be some accounts that need to be settled (currently do not have estimates for) and some works that were either not fully specified or outside the scope of the refurbishment that need to be undertaken to make the centre operational.”
“The Council is appointing specialist surveyors with particular expertise in venues similar to Fairfield Halls to see what additional works needs to be undertaken to make the building usable.” Note that: usable. Suggesting that it is not so now.
Following the collapse of the council’s finances, Brick by Brick has had the College Green development – the area to the left of the Halls in the picture above – taken out of their hands
Elsewhere in the report it says, “In order to ascertain what is required quickly and the likely cost, the council has directly appointed Faithorn Farrell Timms (a specialist in concert venues) to undertake a survey of the property and to review the original contract documentation.
“It is possible that additional specialist advice or exploratory works may be required.
“This work,” the report states, portentously, “will then inform the basis of a contract to complete the refurbishment of the Halls.” Which confirms the widespread assertion that Brick by Brick had left the job uncompleted.
The report, drafted under the direction of Chris Buss, the council’s interim finance director, explains the background: “The refurbishment of Fairfield Halls was undertaken by Brick by Brick at what was intended to be at nil cost to the council as the arrangement was structured in such a way that the costs would be covered by the development profit from the adjacent College Green site…
“… This arrangement is no longer taking place, which means that Brick by Brick no longer has the capacity to fund the expenditure on Fairfield Halls.
“… It is proposed to treat all the costs incurred by Brick by Brick on the refurbishment as council capital expenditure rather than as a loan. The existing total expenditure is £69.261million… The impact of this is to reduce the level of indebtedness of Brick by Brick to the Council to £163,042,060.
“The existing contracts between Brick by Brick and contractors and consultants involved in the original refurbishment will be nominated to the council to ensure that the council is able to enforce any warranties or guarantees under the contracts. There are however outstanding works to complete the refurbishment.”.