Calls for investigation into controversial council developments

Some of Bristol City Council’s biggest and most controversial deals should be investigated by finance watchdogs, an opposition councillor claims.

Conservative councillor Geoff Gollop has called on the authority’s external auditors Grant Thornton to examine major projects including City Leap, Bristol Heat Networks and Temple Island to ensure they provide taxpayers value for money (VfM) and that the decisions were made properly.

The council’s top finance officer said in response that discussions were taking place with Grant Thornton to decide which areas to cover in depth for the 2021/22 VfM audit.

She said these would include checking progress on 13 key recommendations the auditors made in their previous year’s “damning” report which blamed the authority for the Bristol Beacon’s revamp costs doubling and found officers broke the rules on awarding contracts 203 times in 2020/21.

Gollop told the council’s audit committee on Monday that Grant Thornton should also focus on several other grand plans when it goes through City Hall’s books for the latest financial year.

Speaking during public forum, the Westbury-on-Trym & Henleaze ward councillor, who is not on the committee, said: “The City Leap project is innovative, but while the project may well generate significant profits for the council’s partners, there is little indication of direct financial benefit to the council which appears to be very limited with no inflationary uplift.

“The governance of the joint venture is still unclear and further investigation by auditors may be appropriate.”

He said the authority was selling its Bristol Heat Networks – to be run by one of the council’s two City Leap joint venture partners Vattenfall Heat UK as part of the £1b scheme to decarbonise Bristol’s energy system – “at cost”, or what it paid for it, rather than the supposedly higher current value.

Gollop said: “It seems strange that a seven-figure sum has been spent on both legal and accountancy advice, but there is at present no suggestion of a valuation.

“It might be appropriate to suggest this is worthy of review under the value-for-money report.

“I have very limited knowledge of the Legal & General agreement to develop the former Arena Island.

“However, my instinct suggests that underwriting rental income on an office development at the current time may have some contingent risks.”

He said Grant Thornton should also look into the departure – on the same day – of the managing and finance directors of the council’s Bristol Waste company.

The around Temple Meads is set to receive major investment in the next few years – photo: Martin Booth

Grant Thornton senior manager Beth Garner told the meeting: “I have made a note of the points and we will discuss them with officers as part of our value-for-money audit work for 2021/22.”

City council finance director Denise Murray said that having already discussed the heat networks business and City Leap with auditors, the projects would “inform a significant part of the 2021/22 audit”.

She said Grant Thornton number-crunchers were meeting the authority’s corporate leadership board, comprising cabinet members and top officers, “to do a risk assessment to then agree as part of that process the deep dive areas for their VfM review for this year”.

Murray said the actions prompted by the previous year’s recommendations would also “definitely be reviewed” to ensure they had been done.

Adam Postans is a local democracy reporter (LDR) for Bristol

Main photo: Legal & General

Read next:

• Liz Truss defends mini-budget in grilling from Bristol presenter 
• Tenants protest council’s ‘whitewashing’ rent commission 
• New footbridge among plans for major Temple Meads redevelopment

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: