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Calls for independent review over Wolverhampton Civic halls revamp after Shaylor Group collapse

Opposition councillors have demanded an independent review into the revamp of Wolverhampton's Civic halls following the collapse of its main contractor.

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The city council has been left having to find another company to complete the refurbishment of one of the city's most famous venues.

Conservative councillors say the budget will now "undoubtedly" rise above £38m and fear it will lead to a further delay on completion, which is already scheduled for five years later than originally planned in 2021.

They have also questioned the decision to sign off on the main works in May, just weeks before the collapse of Shaylor Group, when sub-contractors had reported issues with payments at the start of this year.

Richard Lawrence, director of regeneration at Wolverhampton Council, told a meeting last week that the demise of Shaylor was "unforeseen" and after due diligence there was "no insight they would cease trading".

He also said he hoped a new contractor would be in place as soon as the autumn.

Councillor Jonathan Yardley will move a motion to the full council tonight which says: "The collapse of Shaylor Group, and the sad loss of 200 jobs, throws the entire Civic halls refurbishment project into question.

"The £38 million budget will undoubtedly rise, and the opening date will be pushed back, as the council is forced to find another contractor to finish the job.

"Despite other businesses expressing concerns about Shaylor’s financial situation months ago, we note that as recently as May, the previous cabinet member for city economy decided to approve a variation order with Shaylor’s instead of re-tendering the contract for phase two of the works.

"This council therefore calls for an independent review into the whole project, further to the internal ‘lessons learned’ report in 2018."

Asked what he hoped to achieve, Councillor Yardley said ahead of the meeting: "To find out the reason why the council has failed to manage its flagship development project for the city and so it doesn't happen again.

"They commissioned a Lessons Learned report and they have learned nothing."

He added: "To say a contractor will be in place by autumn is perfectly reasonable. But it needs to be done properly with the right company and with proper project managers."

The council's economy boss Harman Banger said: “Let’s be very clear, the demise of Shaylor’s was not in any way related to the Civic Halls project.

“Comprehensive due diligence using a market leading credit agency was carried out and this was supplemented by market intelligence. This is a regrettable case of market failure of which the council cannot be held responsible for.

“Given the council published a very open and transparent lessons learnt audit report last year, the call for an independent review is a pointless, politically-motivated act and I hope council will throw it out.”