Calls to sell off Wolverhampton Council HQ amid refurbishment criticism

Conservative councillor Udey Singh said the Labour-run authority should move staff out of the Civic Centre and into offices around the city with more people working remotely as a result of Covid.

He told members of a council scrutiny panel he was disappointed not to see the building being considered in a review of public-owned assets.

The Civic Centre underwent a major refurbishment in 2016, but Councillor Singh said the revamp hadn’t added £25 million to the value of the asset.

In response, Labour councillors and senior officers said the overhaul of the Civic Centre was aimed at prolonging the life of the building and investing in staff.

Figures presented at the meeting showed of the 4,217 council staff, a total of 1,998 were on flexible working patterns. A further 1,766 were ‘field employees’ such as social workers and 453 were fixed.

Councillor Singh said: “Now that money was spent and from an investment point of view, that hasn’t added £25 million worth of value on this asset even though we’ve revamped it.

“If we presume this property is worth about £20-25 million. You’ve spent £25 million refurbishing it but I don’t think it is worth £50 million.

“I don’t think anyone would be willing to pay £50 million if we were to sell it unless there was a property explosion or somebody was mad enough to buy above market value.

“The council has over a 1,000 assets so we could look to divide the people amongst them.

“Now with fixed and flexible working pattern, I still think we need to have a conversation about what we do with the Civic Centre.

“This is a prime site building. If we were to convert the land it sits on as a leasehold and charge ground rent on it and sell it to a developer.

“We could use those funds to relocate our services and departments, possibly into the i9 building which would nicely complement the Department of Housing.

“That £25 million will never be recovered. It has just gone. It has been spent on cosmetic refurbishment which hasn’t actually added any value to this property.

“I don’t think that was the wisest use of these funds. Now Covid has happened, we should be trying to harness the energy of remote working and not be obsessed about having the services in one central place.”

The council’s director of finance Claire Nye said the refurbishment was about extending the life of the Civic Centre and make it more usable for staff.

Labour councillor Tersaim Singh said the authority had a duty, like any other employer for the health and safety of its workforce.

His colleague Chris Burden said: “I do have some concerns with the manner in which this is being discussed.

“It has been presented as if this is a household renovation or adding a bedroom to a house. It’s not. That £25 million hasn’t gone. The money has gone into our staff, into our property portfolio and into making sure we have fit modern places to work.

“The council got an awful amount of criticism for its installation of its hearing loops, TV and conference systems but actually I think the last 18 months of Covid have proved that was expensive but we were incredibly ahead of the curve.

“Imagine if we’d had to spend that £25 million now to install those things while everyone was clamouring to do it.

“I think it’s been a really positive thing. I think it’s the right choice to say the Civic Centre will remain at the heart of our community. The public do need to have a visible presence.

“Shipping us off to a smaller office is a concerning sort of approach to this which would change how the public view the council.”