Cube overspend report row
Corby, Town Centre, Corby Cube and Steelman statue Corby Walk
A group of councillors want a dossier on why the Corby Cube ran at least £10m over budget to be made public.
However, the ruling Labour group says the report will not be made fully public because of legal concerns.
The report, which runs into hundreds of pages, was commissioned by Corby Council after Conservative councillors expressed concerns about The Cube, including its cost.
A cross-party sub-committee of the overview and scrutiny panel was convened and members have spent months interviewing people about the multi-million pound project.
Their report was made available to all borough councillors yesterday and the Conservative group immediately called for it to be made public.
A statement from leader of the Conservative group David Sims, and councillors Rob McKellar, Stan Heggs and Ray Lilley, to council leader Tom Beattie, said: “As the official opposition on Corby Borough Council, tasked with holding the administration to account and ensuring that the best interests of the public are served, the Conservative group demand that you release a full and unedited copy of the Corby Cube Scrutiny Report to the general public and to the relevant authorities.
“People in the borough of Corby have a right to know how their taxes are spent and how their council is operating.
“There has been an overspend of £10 million on the Corby Cube project and we consider it to be totally unacceptable for the Labour administration to be hiding the details and reasons behind the overspend from the public.
“This is yet another cover-up from Corby Borough Council and is frankly an affront to transparency and open government.”
Corby Council leader Tom Beattie, said the full council will now have to consider the report along with any recommendations the review group has made and what action the council needs to take now.
He said: “The report contains commercially, financially and legally sensitive information and as such it would be irresponsible for the report to be issued in full as this decision could have detrimental implications to both the council and the taxpayers of Corby.
“Although the full report will not be issued, the review group has decided to issue a summary report to the press and public once councillors have had the opportunity to discuss the outcomes.”
Cllr Beattie said the review group took legal advice and was told that its findings should not be made available to members of the public.
The experts said the decision was justified on the grounds that information was given on a confidential basis by those interviewed about The Cube.
They say that without a confidentiality agreement, full and frank views may not have been given to the panel.
The review group was also advised that making the full report public could prejudice the outcome of potential litigation or adjudications related to disputes between the council, its building contractors and the professional team.
The council is paying £178,000 interest on the overspend on the Cube, which opened in November 2010.
A year ago the council revealed that the cost of the Cube had hit £41.6m, about £5m over budget, but in June that figure was revised and the council said there would need to be further borrowing of £5.5m to fund the building, bringing the total overspend to £10.5m.
The planned rooftop garden and the bistro at The Cube have never opened.
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Comments
There are 111 comments to this article
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lozfromcorby
Friday, March 2, 2012 at 01:27 PMWow, loads of comments since last check! My twitter is @lozfromcorby feel free to follow. I was just reading these comments and other articles and I must admit that though I disagree with cllr mckellor on a lot of things i am embarrassed that I accused him of being labour out and would like to apologise for that. As for Mensch on the other article, she is no longer even worth commenting on. I've never met the lady and no longer care to.
Ray Rodden
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 04:57 PM@labouroutBNP see you continue your unhealthy vendetta against Labour and Cllr Pengelly. Soemthing unsavoury about your hatred and obsession. Hope you're not a 'bunny boiler' Get a grip man!
LabourOut
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 12:25 AM@atilliator, if threatening to sue means you're not fit to take office, please ask the Deputy Leader of the council whose he's threatening to sue, this week. The guy is a joke. Granted a not very funny one.
John Downes
Monday, February 27, 2012 at 12:13 AM@Lu.ren Entertaining they might be. But you see if you want to be a head of state, or a clergyman, or a town councillor, or a multi-millionaire's wife; you have to look like one and act like one. That's why you don't see the town drunk becoming the prime minister, or a schmutzfink marrying the likes of Richard Branson. I mean, you see how these two behave, making empty promises to garnish their expenses, accusing the other of having more than one handle, making puerile threats to sue in capitals. If you have a problem, would you think that either of these two would be adult enough to deal with it? As to the older councillors that you mention...well, put it like this, these politicians, local and national, are the kids you couldn't stand when you were in school - the suck-ups, the brown-nosers, the glad-handers. But the fault for that would be the electorate who are fool enough to vote for these people.
John Downes
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 09:58 PMLabourOut wrote: "Instead of defending Corby Labour you should be asking the questions like atilliator." Quite so.
LabourOut
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 08:27 PMDamn missed the 100, but hey ho. @ray rotten, BIg LOL to you getting your post moderated. Actually it's a LMFAO. But seriously Ray my points are all accurate, that's why it might hurt you so much. Instead of defending Corby Labour you should be asking the questions like atilliator. When Corby Labour were throwing money around like it grew on trees did they not stop to think where the money was coming from. Like National Labour Corby Labour has built in a structural deficit to Corby's finances. The extra £200k to run the Core as compared to the Willows, the increased £200k Facility cost of running the Cube as opposed to Grosvenor House. Many decisions that Labour members have made have increased the costs of RUNNING the council. Lets be accurate here none of the SERVICES that the council have to provide by law have been improved by the Cube. In fact they have been put at risk due to the reduction in Manpower within the council, yes not all the redundancies were compulsory but those positions have not been replaced. The BALANCED budget is only balanced because £1.5 million of spending has been ripped out. Like the redundant Council employees this money was doing something, if not then why was it allocated in the first place. Increasingly the Council Tax Corby is handing over to the council is being used to do NOTHING but pay debts and wash the Windows of the Cube. Over to you Ray, lets talk facts.
Ray Rodden
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 06:16 PM@nadams thanks for the info. Think i've sussed out who the anony-mouse @ racist BNPlabourtout is. I always post as me. i stand by my comments, I am 'what it says on the tin' right or wrong. If i make an error i will say so and apologise. @racist BNPlabouout is the simplest of internet trolls There are some good thoughtful posters on here. Tory @robmekallar makes some good points others, over the years, I have come to respect, even though I may not agree with them.
John Downes
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 05:37 PM@Ray Rodden I want you to look at the following sentence from the above article. "The council is paying £178,000 interest on the overspend on the Cube, which opened in November 2010." £178,000 is the interest they are paying on The White Elephant. The CBC debt is bigger. And one has to ask the question: where are the half a million Gs YOU "BELIEVE" Corby Borough Council has available for the new cinema coming from; because, so far as I can see, Corby Borough Council is bust. Also put yourself in the shoes of the CEO of Odeon or any other big cinema chain. You are asked by a council who have overspent 10 millions on a building that looks like the Wreck of the Hesperus. You have a couple of councillors who, if their photographs are anything to go by, look like schoolkids. And you are given the type of deal you describe. You are expected to build the thing according to their specifications. Would YOU accept the deal. As THE Donald says: Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make."
NAdams
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 05:35 PMRay, the Twitter account is @lozfromcorby. It might be an idea to drop the "racist" bit if your worried about the comments being pulled. It hasn't got any bearing on what is being discussed here.
Ray Rodden
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:45 PM'pending moderation' on 101?? there's a strange one. said @beanfield beast you took the chance for @racistBNPlabourout to reply :-) Oh well
Ray Rodden
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:41 PMPending Moderation
Beanfield Beast
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 04:23 PMOne hundred posts!
Ray Rodden
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 03:43 PM@racistBNPlabourout on 99 after this post, YOU get the chance to be 'the ton' any chance of posting Cllr Fergusons twitter handle, sounds interesting, would like to 'follow' the councillor on twitter. cheers mate ;-)
Ray Rodden
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 03:20 PM@racistBNPlabourout please be careful how you post, even if it's other peoples comments on twitter et al The ET allow us this space to stimulate debate and air opposing views. howver, you may have noticed that the story on the CEO of corby council had to have commenting 'pulled' by the ET as they got offensive and possibly libelous, perhaps some of them from you. 'calm down dear'
rng1
Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 02:45 PMSteady lads, we might hit the ton soon!!
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