REFORM COUNCIL SPENDS £5,000 A DAY ON EMPTY OFFICE SPACE
A Reform-led council has spent more than £5,000 a day maintaining empty office space, despite the party’s promise to crack down on waste.
Worcestershire county council’s headquarters in Worcester County Hall were closed in June last year following the discovery of potentially dangerous legionella bacteria in the building’s water supply.
The council relocated to a nearby building but still owns the tainted county hall, which has cost £1,993,545 to maintain over the past year, equal to approximately £5,300 per day.
This includes £390,000 spent on a feasibility study – which concluded that the building was no longer needed – and £160,000 on relocating staff and equipment to temporary rented offices, figures show.
Annual running costs for the county hall – including utilities, insurance, and maintenance – additionally amounted to £810,783, while cleaning, waste disposal, grounds-keeping and statutory services added another £722,774. Business rates on the vacant building totalled £409,987.
Parts of the 49-year-old building on Spetchley Road, Worcester, were also shut in Sep 2023 after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete was found in the roofs.
The council, which has been controlled by a minority Reform-led coalition since May, has come under growing pressure to act against the waste.
Richard Udall, a Labour councillor, described the massive cost as a “disgrace” for a building that is “simply not needed”.
He said: “It’s an absolute scandal. Pouring £2 million of taxpayers’ money into an empty and unusable building is a disgrace – money which should have been spent supporting public services.”
Dan Boatright-Greene, a Liberal Democrat councillor, said: “Pragmatic decisions need to be taken now. Whether the site is sold or redeveloped by the council itself, demolition appears inevitable.”
Zia Yusuf, the former chairman of Reform UK, has led the party’s campaign to cut wasteful spending in local government with the creation of the Elon Musk-inspired Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), which Mr Yusuf now leads.
Doge began auditing councils in early June, targeting Kent county council and West Northamptonshire county council, to find areas where waste could be cut.
Worcestershire council’s cabinet is due to consider the future of the site at a meeting on July 17.
Rob Wharton, Reform UK’s cabinet member for finance and efficiency, said: “A detailed report will be published next week ahead of the meeting. It will set out options for the future use of the site, associated costs, and the steps required for decommissioning.
“We remain committed to transparency and will ensure residents are kept informed as we consider the long-term future of county hall.”
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