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Primary school built 'too small' after council miscalculates capacity
A bungling council which built a school “too small” may have to pay millions to fix the mistake.
Dargavel Primary School in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, Scotland, was made for 430 pupils but revised projections show it will need to hold 1,100 children.
Council chiefs have apologised for the "error" and now preparing to bring in portacabins next year to hold pupils at a cost £2 million.
Parents had apparently warned the new school, which opened in January, would not be big enough.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/dargavel-primary-school-bishopton-renfrewshire-164159821.html
Comments
They should go back to school.
Bucket signifies latest embarrassment for calamity council.
Just a few months after it was opened and acclaimed a 'state of the art' building,
Thurrock Council's new civic office extension – recently controversially named the Town Hall – is leaking.
And Nub News has also been told that staff in some offices, including the registrar's section of the new building, are not able to work in them because of an accumulation of damp and mould.
Thurrock Council has declined to answer questions about the leaks and dampness but proof of the leak can be seen from the public areas as a bucket has been strategically placed to catch drips from the roof to stop water running over stairs!
The building has been a bone of controversy and an embarrassment to the Conservative administration which forged ahead with the extension despite a majority of councillors voting against it in June 2020.
When it opened in June there was great consternation because of a large number of faults that required a secondary company to go in and instigate repairs to doors, lifts and lighting. The building was originally built by Kier Construction – itself a highly commented upon decision as they were the firm that ran the massively overspent and much-delayed A13 widening project!
At the time of the opening then council leader Cllr Rob Gledhill said: "I am delighted that the impressive new building is starting to open up to the public. A lot of thought has gone into its design, how we use it and what we will use it for."
Cllr Mark Coxshall, now the council leader, has called it a state of the art building and added: "This new building will be the catalyst for the ambitious redevelopment of Grays."
The cost of the new building remains a closely-guarded secret by the council, (allegedly £10m) which has refused several attempts by the media and councillors to get a final cost breakdown.
The biggest **** in the build process was a botched council chamber, which was created with just 35 seats when there are 49 councillors.
The chamber finally opened for the first time last month but already problems have been identified with its acoustics which make many councillors' words indecipherable for the public and press.
The first meeting heard a debate about the renaming of the building. Opposition councillors wanted all its acknowledged faults, many of which were listed in the debate, to be remedied but the majority of Tory councillors got their way and it is now The Town Hall.
But whatever it is called, it still appears to be a cause for embarrassment. It is reported members of the teams running the 'showcase' register office and wedding venue, have elected to work from desks in the public area cafeteria because of damp in their offices.
And the staircase bucket, after a few days' consistent rain has knocked more holes in the credibility of the extension, is just one more red-faced moment the ruling administration will have to answer.
Confusion over the installation of 20mph signs has been branded "a farce" by an MP and "Clownworld" by drivers.
Contractors working for Oxfordshire County Council put up new 20mph signs near existing 30mph and 40mph signs and forgot to remove road paint spelling out the old 30 and 40mph limits.
Every single one of the now-obsolete new signs had to be covered up with black bags until the mistake could be corrected.
Witney MP Robert Courts said: “This whole episode has been beyond farcical from start to finish. From dismissing the views of local residents who overwhelmingly expressed opposition to the proposals, to the shambolic implementation of the last few days.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/county-councils-20mph-signs-blunder-050000382.html
Today (Thursday, 17 November) as visitors to the building including councillors and staff climbed the main stairwell, a bucket was back, with more water falling from above.
The only change appeared to be that new bucket was blue – the laughter and quips at the calamity council's expense from passers by remained the same!
Audit was simply a 'tick box process' as hundred of millions were borrowed and spent.
Ahead of what is expected to be a bad news week for Thurrock Council as its financial failings continue to be investigated, some councillors have condemned the authority – which is saddled with a debt believed to approach one and a half billion pounds.
The message came after one of the council's senior officers admitted due diligence and checks about where hundreds of millions were spent did not happen
In recent days Thurrock Nub News has reported on the likely outcome of a number of meetings where councillors will be briefed on the extent financial catastrophe due to be reported.
Sources within the council have told Nub News that investigations into the failed 'borrow to invest' policy have shown things are far worse than originally expected.
Having already had to borrow more than £650 million to cover debt to other local authorities and public bodies it is likely they will be going cap-in-hand to the government to meet a shortfall in this year's budget that could be as high as £490 million.
An internal audit progress report was given to councillors on the standards and audit committee whose members were critical, saying it lacked detail at a time when the council's financial dealings should be under great scrutiny.
Conservative councillor Gary Collins chaired the meeting and said: "What I'd like to see in light of recent developments is not just "this is what we do", it needs to be evidenced. I would like to see bank statements showing all the balances of all our accounts. A detailed account of all our incomes and outgoings and any other items relating to investments.
"I think it might be a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted but if we are going to learn from our mistakes this is probably the best way to go.
"Does anyone go out to see if these investments and see if they actually exist in reality?"
In response the council's chief internal auditor Gary Clifford told the meeting: "No, we wouldn't go out to see if the investment existed. We haven't done any work on the investments. We would only audit the process if the council goes out and does due diligence."
Mr Clifford told the meeting that his auditing team were told not to carry out checks by the council's senior finance team. "I would have assumed this was done by the financial team when the audits were set up," he said, conceding: "We wouldn't go out and check if the investments were a reality."
Asked by Cllr Collins if Mr Clifford's team had carried out the checks that might be expected of a team of auditors, Mr Clifford said: " We audited the process. I don't see what else we could do!"
Cllr Collins responded by saying: "There's got to be a way of checking whether the audit has been done and not just taking it at face value."
A government-appointed commissioner from Essex County Council is overseeing the authority in the aftermath of millions of pounds lost in the ill-judged investments.
The committee deferred signing off the report until the next standards and audit committee so that more detail could be added to it.
However, that deadline may well be massively overtaken by events about to unfold…
Incredibly, a Conservative-run, small-ish Authority, Thurrock, has managed to rack up debt of somewhere between £1 billion to £1.6 billion. Not on a cost of living squeeze-on a vanity project. They were lending money for "solar energy" projects, many of which appear not to exist. In turn, they were borrowing tens of millions from their mates in other Councils.
I live in what is normally regarded as the poorest Council in Essex (and indeed the South of England), Tendring. Quite why my Council has felt able to lend about £10 million to a wealthier neighbouring area for solar panels beggars belief. And the prize idiot in charge of the loan doesn't believe there will be any problem getting the money back. Which makes him the biggest numpty in Essex.
But it's all ok-someone at Thurrock has said "sorry".
This is financial incompetence on a staggering scale.
PS. Thurrock had previously declared itself a Unitary Authority. This means that it effectively governed itself, and was not subject to the sort of checks that a County Council would have insisted upon.
Looks like the Taxpayer is going to be bailing out Local Authorities for Billions of pounds. Not ones that are skint because of austerity. Just the ones who gave money away for no good reason.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2022-07-15/his-companies-made-a-deal-for-138m-of-taxpayers-money.-where-has-it-gone
Wow, what a staggering story. How was this allowed to happen?
Stunning stuff, I'm aghast.
Thanks @lucy4 & @Essexphil
Here's a Twitter thread on it...
There are quite a lot of Councillors who should be barred from public office for ever. And some that should be in Prison.
A Councillor was in charge of setting out the Local Plan-something that is essential if you want to avoid Developers being able to force large scale building projects through.
Sadly, and I am sure it was entirely accidental, this particular Councillor appears to have failed to make the Local Plan be effective. There was a defect in it. And, simultaneously, he failed to mention that he had a financial interest in the Company that profited massively due to this error. As hundreds of houses were put up in his Village. Causing him to resign from certain key roles, but to remain a Councillor.
Fast forward a few years, and this same man is in charge of the Finances for a Local Authority. And has felt able to lend £millions to another authority, Thurrock. I have no knowledge of any financial impropriety. But I do know these are both Conservative-run Councils.
It appears that there is no proof (at least as yet) that any Rules have been broken.
Which rather suggests we deserve better Rules.
Something that would make complete sense would be for the government to borrow funds to set up a state owned renewables company.
This would in the long term produce enough electricity to satisfy UK demand.
Possibly enough to allow for some exports.
Profits would repay all the borrowed funds.
Subsequently contribute to the treasury coffers.
Guarantee a reasonable price to UK consumers.
It is hard to see what could go wrong.
They could have done this years ago.
I am confident that lots would go wrong.
But it wouldn't manage to be as awful as the Thurrock mess.
Whereas the Tories tend to make money, but siphon it off for themselves
Their reward would be a piece of it free.
The shocking extent of Thurrock Council's financial situation – and an expected operating loss of £469.6 million at the end of the current financial year in March 2023 – is detailed in a new official report.
Over the past week Thurrock Nub News has exclusively predicted the staggering numbers involved in the council's financial catastrophe, sparked by the failure of its controversial borrow-to-invest' policy.
Our stories have included the consequences of the financial debacle that ordinary staff are experiencing, cost-cutting that saw an ultra-low key Christmas lights switch-on ceremony in Grays and a report on how auditors were instructed not to validate investments.
Today the council has issued a statement on the 'grave situation' it is facing – and the ruling Conservative group were immediately condemned by opposition leader Cllr John Kent.
He said: "It is clear there has been a total lack of robustness in the council's internal processes and it's Thurrock residents that will be paying the price for the Conservatives' catastrophic handling of the council's affairs for decades to come."
A report going to next week's cabinet outlines the council's current financial position and provide details of the challenge it faces.
The report confirms the council now apply to the government for what is known as a capitalisation direction, which allows councils to borrow money for day-to-day running costs.
An unattributed statement from the council says: "The report shows that the council faces a grave financial situation this year (2022/23) with expected investment losses totalling £275.4 million and further £129.2 million being set aside to repay investment debt contributing to a total in year funding gap of £469.6 million, before mitigation.
"It also outlines a budget gap of £184.4 million for 2023/24, which includes money that must be set aside to write down the debt associated with the remaining investment balances and the interest payable on that debt.
"This also includes the write down of the exceptional financial support that will be sought from central government in respect of the 2022/23 funding gap."
Thurrock Council leader Cllr Mark Coxshall said: "These are shocking numbers but the first stage to creating a good plan for recovery is to understand the full extent of the problem. I know that Thurrock residents will be concerned and rightly so about what this means for local services.
"Please rest assured that this report is the first stage of planning for our recovery.
"Everybody now has a fuller understanding of the gravity of the issues we face. We know the Council cannot find a way to finance its expenditure in-year and will not achieve a balanced budget next year without external support.
"We will have to request exceptional financial support from the government over a number of years to stabilise our financial position and give us time to have balanced budgets.
"Alongside this support we will have to use other levers including asset disposal, efficiency savings, Council Tax increases and funding flexibilities from central government to recover our financial position.
"Although it is impossible for local authorities to go bankrupt, it is clear there will be incredibly difficult decisions to come. These are uncertain and unsettling times but there are no immediate changes to services for residents, and the Council's much valued staff will continue to deliver for Thurrock's residents and be paid.
"I am absolutely determined to break the Council's past culture of secrecy with complete openness, honesty and transparency.
"Simply by publishing this information I am making it clear that this is not how Thurrock Council intends to work going forward and that this takes place in a way that can be scrutinised by all councillors and the public.
"Further reports will come to Cabinet and update the position before setting a budget in February. Thurrock Council continues our work with the Commissioners to develop a plan that addresses the scale of this challenge and takes us towards a stable and sustainable financial position in the medium to longer term."
The government recently intervened to try and stabilise the disastrous financial situation and it established 'commissioners' to take charge of key issues.
Lead commissioner Gavin Jones said: "The financial position the Commissioners have outlined is a grave one; it is also not yet complete as further work is underway. We have made good progress working alongside Thurrock Council's leadership to understand the position and to begin to take positive action to address the situation.
"That support will continue as we ensure that essential services can continue to be delivered. We have to be realistic, however, about changes to the Council's operations which the financial position mean are inevitable."
All the above has failed to impress Labour opposition leader Cllr John Kent.
For the past two years and more he has been a constant critic of the ruling administration and not only frequently questioned the veracity of the council's financial strategy but damned it for its secretive policies.
He told Thurrock Nub News: "This report lays bare the culmination of six years of Conservative leadership of Thurrock Council.
"Thurrock Conservatives' disastrous financial mismanagement has led to debts of £1.5 billion, an in year funding gap of £469 million, failing services and having to go cap in hand to the government for a bail out while they declare bankruptcy.
"It is clear there has been a total lack of robustness in the council's internal processes and it's Thurrock residents that will be paying the price for the Conservative's catastrophic handling of the council's affairs for decades to come.
"Just what were those Conservative councillors who make up the council's cabinet doing? Are we really expected to believe they didn't notice what was going on under their very noses?
"The Tory cabinet is absolutely complicit in this scandal and with every new revelation their position becomes even more indefensible."
The council statement concluded: The position outlined in this report is correct at the time of publication but is not definitive and could change in the future as more is learned about investments and the council's portfolio is managed down.
Further reports will come to Cabinet and update the position before a budget is set in February 2023. Thurrock Council continues its work with the Commissioners to develop a plan that addresses the scale of this challenge and takes the council towards a stable and sustainable financial position in the medium to longer term.