Fury over Birmingham City Council’s £450k quote to fix boiler system

It was revealed that a quote from the council’s preferred suppliers list for repairs at the Hollymoor Centre in Northfield came in at £453,000 – claimed to be seven times as much as quotes from the private sector.

And the revelation has led questions to be asked of the council’s procurement services, with council leader Ian Ward promising to look into the matter as a ‘matter of urgency’.

Councillor Simon Morrall, who represents Frankley Great Park, raised the question at the full council, and has been working with the centre on getting the repairs done.

And he says that the quote is just another example of the council’s "chronic overspending," adding that he feels similar projects could have been halted in the past for similar reasons.

"For years this building has been drastically underutilized, due to a broken boiler system which Birmingham City Council has dragged its feet in repairing,” he said.

"Last year I asked the management of Hollymoor to go to the private sector to request three separate quotations to repair their boiler system, which has prevented the centre from being utilised to its maximum potential. This returned prices ranging from £60,000 – £90,000, each differing based on scope and scale of the work being carried out.

"Eventually, the Labour-run city council came back with prices from their ‘preferred suppliers list’ which most council assets, services and buildings are typically expected to use.

"The price that returned wasn’t £100,000, it wasn’t £200,000…. But a whopping £450,000!

"That is seven times the cost of the private sector – almost half a million pounds. And you could probably buy the building for that.

"This Labour-run city council loves to use ‘government cuts’ as it’s default get out of jail free card, when actually if you do some digging, you’ll find colossal sums of money being wasted and chronic overspending in the council’s procurement department.

"I cannot help but wonder how more libraries, youth centres and council services have been closed over the years for similar reasons?

"But why take any accountability when they can just blame everything on ‘austerity’ right?"

Responding during full council, Councillor Ward said: “I share some of the frustrations of Councillor Morrall, and I’ve asked officers to look into this situation with some urgency to bring forward a proposal that will represent value for money for the taxpayer.”