String of costly errors in council office purchase

A catalogue of errors has been identified in the creation of new council offices which were three years late and more than three times over budget.

Eden District Council set a £2.3m budget to refurbish Voreda House in Penrith, Cumbria, to move its staff into a single site by March 2021 - however the project ended up costing £8.3m and not coming to fruition until May 2024.

Westmorland and Furness Council, which took over from Eden last year, has published a review which identifies 31 "key issues" in decision making.

These included missing paperwork and wrong valuations for the building.

The report said councillors agreed to buy Voreda House for £900,000 based on an independent assessment.

However, at the time the decision was made in February 2020, they had not been told the market valuation was much lower at £785,000.

Despite the purchase happening nine months later - after the first coronavirus lockdown - councillors also failed to reassess the need for offices.

Other issues included missing documentation, the lack of a full business case and lack of clarity over whether all other options, including a new-build office, were considered.

A presentation delivered to Westmorland and Furness Council's corporate management team identified 29 lessons from the project.

Staff moved into Voreda House from the end of May, with services including adult social care, children’s services and housing being delivered from there.

Andrew Jarvis, deputy leader of the council and cabinet member for finance, said the authority recognised its duty to ensure public money was "invested wisely".

He said: "This report has helped us to challenge our current processes and we are confident that they are robust and we will continue to regularly review these as outlined in the management response."

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