Still no final cost on botched Wolverhampton Civic Halls revamp

A final figure for a major overhaul of the iconic venue has not been calculated months after it was revealed costs had spiralled to £38.1 million.

Wolverhampton council's managing director Keith Ireland confessed to councillors he could not guarantee the project could be delivered within its current budget or on time.

Speaking at an audit and risk committee meeting, Councillor Craig Collinswood asked Mr Ireland: "Are you now confident that this project will be delivered on schedule and on budget?"

But Mr Ireland told the meeting he was unable to make such guarantees, adding: "I can't give you that assurance. We need to undertake full assessment reports.

"We are not confident we can sit here and give you the assurance that the project will be done on time and in budget. Full structural surveys need to be completed and assessed.

"I can't say yes to you because I wouldn't be learning from the mistakes from the past."

His comments came during Monday's meeting, where councillors discussed 'Lessons Learned' reports about the Civic Halls refurbishment, Wolverhampton Interchange and markets relocation - all which were over-budget.

The Civic Halls project was originally due to cost £14.4m but councillors approved an extra £23.6m earlier this year after structural investigations carried out after restoration work had begun revealed the building would be damaged and designs had to be re-drawn.

The report discussed by committee members this week claimed the project failed due to an 'unrealistic capital budget' and lack of a 'robust risk-based contingency'.

Decisions were 'rushed' after delays in the design process and there was 'inadequate' project management, including the council's property services strategic partner failing to deliver its designs.

Mr Ireland told the meeting he 'wished he could turn back time', adding: "The thing that keep me awake at night, [but] not very much, is why did we think we could do more work to this building without having intrusive surveys done at the beginning.

"This is pretty disastrous for us. I accept responsibility that maybe I did not have enough involvement in it. At the time, we did not get the right advice. It's not great."

Councillor Philip Bateman, who represents Wednesfield North, added: "We seem to have lost control altogether. It seems everybody has been taken for a ride on this."

Director of governance Kevin O'Keefe revealed the council is looking into launching legal proceedings against previous advisors involved in the Civic Halls project.