Council ‘misled’ group over costs
CAMPAIGNERS say they’ve been “misled” over the cost of a controversial council plan, after millions of pounds were missed out of a response to a Freedom of Information request.
Ashington residents who were angered when the Conservative council scrapped plans by the previous Labour administration to move Northumberland County Hall to the town submitted an FOI request, asking how much taxpayers had lost in the aborted move.
They were told the cost was £1.4m – but when council accounts were released, this only covered one aspect of the price tag.
The accounts included more than £2m each for work done to prepare the site and money paid out for designs of the building, totalling £5.53m. Campaigners claim their request should have covered these costs.
A spokesperson for a group campaigning on what it calls ‘The Ashington Hole’ said: “In the F.O.I request, we asked for a ‘breakdown of costs for the cancellation of County Hall moving to the Ashington site, including settlement costs with contractors.’
“The answer we received from the County Council read ‘A settlement figure of £1.4million was paid to the main contractor, Galliford Try to vary the contract and exclude the HQ element from the project whilst continuing with the infrastructure works.’
“This is not a breakdown, this is only one part of the question. Why is the other £4.13million not mentioned?
“The people of Ashington have campaigned relentlessly to get answers to questions we have. We feel as though every time we ask questions, we get fobbed off and treated with a lack of respect.”
Since the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, members of the public have had the legal right to request certain information from public bodies.
The council declined to specifically explain why the FOI had been answered in this way.
However, Council Leader Peter Jackson said: “The county council has been working for many months with local residents to develop an exciting scheme that will not only provide hundreds of jobs but also bring a new focus to Ashington town centre.
“After the recent presentation to the Local Area Council there will be further detailed plans published in the next few months and we ask all interested people to help us design a bright future for the town, which will not just benefit Ashington, but the whole county.
“We have received a letter from the group, and will be responding in due course.
“It is worth pointing out that while the annual report includes costs in addition to cancellation of the contract, some of these would have been incurred to develop the site regardless. The work undertaken by Arch and their consultants during the design and procurement stage for the building was part of the previous administration’s Capital Budget and this spending is not something the current council did or would have sanctioned.”