Questions are asked about New Swindon Company (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Questions are asked about New Swindon Company
7:50am Wednesday 9th December 2009 in
A SWINDON MP is considering referring the New Swindon Company to a public auditor to hold it to account for its use of more than £6.75m of public money.
Michael Wills, MP for North Swindon, made the comments yesterday while discussing both Swindon Council and the company in the lead-up to its development partner Modus going bust.
Mr Wills believes the company, which is to be reviewed at a Swindon Council cabinet meeting tonight, has not delivered enough to the people of Swindon.
He cited two projects led by the company, which is charged with redeveloping the town centre, which have failed in the past five years – including a £150m deal in 2004 to redevelop Granville Street car park, which fell through, and a £215m successor project, which collapsed in September.
“Not enough has been delivered and both Swindon Council and the company are to blame,” said the MP, who is due to stand down at the next general election.
“What have we got for the £6.75m the taxpayer spent? If the development was completed and people came from all over the world to see Swindon as the benchmark for modern development then all this money would be worth it.”
He wants to the South West Regional Development Agency or Homes and Communities Agency to investigate.
“The plans don’t have sufficient vision, they’re humdrum.
“When the company was created, partly due to me pushing for it, I had a number of meetings with the director of the Tate, the minister of media and sport and the director of the National Gallery – but our ideas about what should be done were completely ignored by council and company.
“I suggested a design competition with the likes of Norman Foster and Michael Hopkins taking part, but when I sent letters nothing was done.”
A former Swindon Council cabinet member has also criticised both the council and the company’s failure to complete its redevelopment projects.
Councillor Nick Martin, who used to hold the council’s financial portfolio, said the local authority is wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds a year by employing its own £560,000-a-year economic development department, while also paying £250,000 to fund the company each year.
“The council are paying two groups to do the same job,” said Mr Martin. “But the worst part is that I fail to see what either of them have achieved.
“Some will say it is the fault of the recession but I think they have been far too slow in developing the town.
“Granted the recession crushed us, but Reading redeveloped their town centre in time, why couldn’t we?
“In the future if I were running it I would want the company built into the council, I think that would make them faster and more effective because they would be accountable.
“Plus we wouldn’t be paying two bodies to do the same thing.”
Each year it received £250,000 each year by Swindon Council, South West Regional Development Agency and the Homes and Communities Agency. However, last year it received £236,000.
The New Swindon Company refused to comment.
Probing New Swindon Company's Costs
THE Adver is currently in the process of appealing against a decision by the company to refuse a freedom of information (FoI) request into the company’s finances.
Both Mr Wills, who is Britain’s information minister, and Coun Martin, urged the company to be “forthright and transparent” about its accounts.
The Adver was able to discover how much public funding the company received through FoI request presented to Swindon Council, South West Regional Development Agency and the Homes and Communities Agency.
The agencies each gave just over £250,000 a year to the company.
It also understood the organisation cost approximately £750,000 to set up.
The New Swindon Company declined to comment.
New Swindon Company was brought in to bring substance to ideas
The councillor responsible for the regeneration of Swindon has backed the New Swindon Company.
Coun Phil Young said he wanted to add “a heavy dose of reality” to the comments made by both Mr Wills and Mr Martin.
He said: “The New Swindon Company was brought in to bring some substance to the idea of regeneration, because before it was here it was only that – an idea.
“They have completed both Wharf Green, about a £2.8m project, and started Canal Walk, about a £3m project. Both were on time and within budget – however, it was Government money.
“At some point in the New Year the Muse development will also be built on the site of the old police station.
“The reality is that these plans take years, they don’t happen overnight.
“I would challenge anyone who said the plans are not original, although the plans with Modus fell through I thought they were quite striking.”
He added that the cabinet hope to confirm plans to merge the council with the company at tonight’s meeting in order to add improve the council powers used to properly oversee the body.
Coun Young also said he believes that all organisations that spend taxpayers’ money, including the company, should be transparent.
Comments(23)
real -life
says...
10:05am Wed 9 Dec 09
Probably too busy drinking margaritas in the Bahamas to have any time for Swindon. The question is who is to blame, the New Swindon Company for being incompetant or SBC for allowing it to happen?
I am fed up seeing my tax money being wasted by these morons who then come back under the threat of prison if I dont pay to bail them out from their stupidity asking me for even more money and cuts to my services to cover it up. I actually agree with an MP for once when he asks why we pay massive amounts to consultants when we are already paying SBC to do the same job, someone somewhere must be getting rich at our expense! When is someone going to wake up to all this and make the changes neccessary to get Swindon truly back on its feet. Oh yes, no one knows how to do it so how can they??
I was expecting the securtiy word to be nose-trough!
politicrat
says...
10:16am Wed 9 Dec 09
The question is: why have we allowed so much money and for so long to be poured into failures and redundant organisations?
Could it be corruption, could it be incompetence?
We need new councillors, we need people in the local council, we need to discard the Old Guard of the Swindon politburo.
trustnopolitician
says...
11:31am Wed 9 Dec 09
Who was(were) the Councillor(s) who allowed this to happen ?
How much will the directors have to repay?
Will they be setting up a similar Company in the near future
Are the directors Swindon Council Tax payers ?
Will the gulity councillors apologise and resign?
Just a few questions which I suspect will go unanswered.
trustnopolitician
says...
11:31am Wed 9 Dec 09
Who was(were) the Councillor(s) who allowed this to happen ?
How much will the directors have to repay?
Will they be setting up a similar Company in the near future
Are the directors Swindon Council Tax payers ?
Will the gulity councillors apologise and resign?
Just a few questions which I suspect will go unanswered.
Swindon_AOK
says...
11:36am Wed 9 Dec 09
Mr. Peter James was an arrogant, over-paid, and ineffective CEO who lived in Marlborough in luxury and had no affialiation or passion for the town whatsoever. His utter contempt for the opinions of local residents was beyond belief.
The NSC invite comment on their website but only ever post the messages that make it through their screening process. The real opinions of local residents are mostly ignored and/or deleted.
All they promise on their website is jam tomorrow with no delivery. The answer to every question for information is 'it takes time to regenerate such an area, be patient' and 'things are moving forward' but nothing ever changes and nothing gets built.
The farcical Regent Circus development a case in point where the NSC don't even know what is going on with a major development on their door step.
The NSC have been a joke and I for one would rejoice if they are held to account and found out for the waste of money that they clearly are.
No doubt Peter James got a pay off when he left the NSC so we should investigate his personal finances as well. Anyone who claimed to be a fan of the town but couldn't bring himself to even live in the borough should not be trusted.
Swindon_AOK
says...
11:41am Wed 9 Dec 09
Wharf Green is a disgrace - I personally met Peter James who told my off the record that he thought the Big Screen would fail but that it was 'free money' so it may as well be spent on something.
There was no innovation of real recognition of what would improve the area.
The quality of the paving used in both Wharf Green and the new Canal Walk scheme is very poor.
Has anyone noticed that the new mosiac tiles on Canal Walk have already discoloured, are stained, and look awful after less than 3 weeks of being laid?
Why can we not have quality materials used when other towns such as Reading use Marble/granite which look decent and improve an area? We just seem to replace like with like.
These schemes will make little impact on the town centre and if this is all they have delivered in 8 years it is a total joke. Even the central library was nothing to do with the NSC but they claim it as a success in their marketing material.
Bobfm
says...
11:59am Wed 9 Dec 09
The costs of RDA's up to 2008 has been £15 billion, and this is rising. The bulk of this cost is staff.
Tax Payers Alliance: http://tinyurl.com/5
zcb5j
I know that now Mr Wills is standing down he probably is no longer constrained in what he says, but he has very much been at the heart of this Governments business and democracy departments in his variously ministerial roles so it's a bit rich him now crying foul.
insidesbc
says...
12:01pm Wed 9 Dec 09
He is obviously still miffed that the conservatives alledgedly rejected him and mike ( the builders friend :-) bawden during their recent attempt at a coup and judging by these comments i am not surprised. Dinosaurs the both of them.
Michael Wills is just making a noise before he and his millions dissappear at the next election - undoubtedly to write a book about how up his own a**e he is.
for anyone who doesn't know, the labour government have been involved with the NSC from day one as it was jointly funded by what is now the homes and communities agency and the South West Regional development agency.
So if michael wills is criticising the NSC shouldn't he also be asking the auditors to look into his own governments involvement ? Also, didn't the builders friend sit on the Regional Development Agency and was responsible for the absurd number of houses swindon has to build because he wanted swindon to become a city (don't councillors in cities get paid more?)
All very cosy if you ask me.
"Mr. Peter James was an arrogant, over-paid, and ineffective CEO who lived in Marlborough in luxury and had no affialiation or passion for the town whatsoever. His utter contempt for the opinions of local residents was beyond belief."
can't disagree with that :-)
password - doze over - how true :-)
DAVE0242
says...
12:02pm Wed 9 Dec 09
Caseysview
says...
12:35pm Wed 9 Dec 09
vladdy
says...
12:43pm Wed 9 Dec 09
vladdy
says...
12:47pm Wed 9 Dec 09
Mum's The Word
says...
1:20pm Wed 9 Dec 09
"The quality of the paving used in both Wharf Green and the new Canal Walk scheme is very poor.
Has anyone noticed that the new mosiac tiles on Canal Walk have already discoloured, are stained, and look awful after less than 3 weeks of being laid?"
Yes, I have noticed this too. These tiles are also very slippery when wet and I am concerned that they are going to cause falls.
politicrat
says...
1:44pm Wed 9 Dec 09
swindon_mini
says...
2:15pm Wed 9 Dec 09
If the cabinet cannot control their officers, then they shouldn't be councillors.
I have no issue with the council using contractors where necessary, but they should be running these projects in house. And if the officers or contractors are not performing, then corrective action needs to be taken.
It all comes down to the Basic Management of Resources.
Captain Sensible
says...
2:33pm Wed 9 Dec 09
real -life
says...
3:14pm Wed 9 Dec 09
2:15pm Wed 9 Dec 09
It seems to be the norm for the councils to create "Companies" or outsource services, to shift the blame away for their lack of leadership and vision.
If the cabinet cannot control their officers, then they shouldn't be councillors.
I have no issue with the council using contractors where necessary, but they should be running these projects in house. And if the officers or contractors are not performing, then corrective action needs to be taken.
It all comes down to the Basic Management of Resources.""
Unfortunately you have hit the nail very firmly on the head, it does come down to the Management of Resources, sadly not something SBC is very good at which is why these contractors and consultants walk all over them and rip us all off. The other problem is that the Councillors are elected but not neccessarily qualifed to do the job. They can be nice, hard working, caring people, but if they dont know how to do the job then you get the mess we have here. Back that up with managers still living in the 1980's with no business or people skills who are used to just sitting back and "trusting" their staff to do the job they are paid to do, then you get the chaos that is SBC. But then Crapita now run SBC anyway, they have control of most departments (revenues and benefits, corporate finance, HR, IT and the front line services of the One Stop Shop and the phone centre) and are walking all over the SBC managers because they know how to do it better than the dinosaurs do. We have been sold down the river, Crapita and the consultants will bleed us dry and move on but at least we will be able to email each other over the wi fi with pictures of the degeneration, sorry regenreration of the town centre. I thought we would have been twinned with Beruit, Basra and Bahgdad rhater than Disney Land!
I Too
says...
5:09pm Wed 9 Dec 09
Mike Bawden, previous leader of SBC did indeend sit on the Regional Development Agency. He also instigated the university "farce", in order to have more ticky tacky houses built all around Coate.
I've questioned both Bawden and Peter James, over issues that concern the residents of Swindon, and both would give nothing more than a rehearsed reply, tht did not answer my questions.
The NSC have cost us millions, and achieved nothing of great merit. SBC cost us millions, and do nothing to preserve the towns' heritage or social framework. Parasitical organisations. Scrap the lot of them .
bilzinCdS
says...
6:12pm Wed 9 Dec 09
real -life wrote:It was mooted that Swindon and Beirut be twinned, but there were so many objections from the people of Beirut that the idea was crapped !
""Swindon_mini, Swindon says...
2:15pm Wed 9 Dec 09
It seems to be the norm for the councils to create "Companies" or outsource services, to shift the blame away for their lack of leadership and vision.
If the cabinet cannot control their officers, then they shouldn't be councillors.
I have no issue with the council using contractors where necessary, but they should be running these projects in house. And if the officers or contractors are not performing, then corrective action needs to be taken.
It all comes down to the Basic Management of Resources.""
Unfortunately you have hit the nail very firmly on the head, it does come down to the Management of Resources, sadly not something SBC is very good at which is why these contractors and consultants walk all over them and rip us all off. The other problem is that the Councillors are elected but not neccessarily qualifed to do the job. They can be nice, hard working, caring people, but if they dont know how to do the job then you get the mess we have here. Back that up with managers still living in the 1980's with no business or people skills who are used to just sitting back and "trusting" their staff to do the job they are paid to do, then you get the chaos that is SBC. But then Crapita now run SBC anyway, they have control of most departments (revenues and benefits, corporate finance, HR, IT and the front line services of the One Stop Shop and the phone centre) and are walking all over the SBC managers because they know how to do it better than the dinosaurs do. We have been sold down the river, Crapita and the consultants will bleed us dry and move on but at least we will be able to email each other over the wi fi with pictures of the degeneration, sorry regenreration of the town centre. I thought we would have been twinned with Beruit, Basra and Bahgdad rhater than Disney Land!
swindonian_in_bristol
says...
8:31am Thu 10 Dec 09
Grimwald
says...
9:29am Thu 10 Dec 09
insidesbc wrote:How very interesting that you choose to be so critical of Councillor Martin who was dismissed some twelve months ago. It is my belief that he did have control of our finances and was possibly dismissed so the constraints he placed on colleagues and the Swindon Company could be removed and look at the result. Michael Wills is reporting the New Swindon Company for wasting £6.50m of public money. Are you now saying that now that Councillor Martin is out of the way that you can now continue wasting £350,000 of Council Tax payers money on the New New Swindon Company every year?
Why didn't Councillor Nick Martin do something about it whilst he was in charge of the finances instead of complaining now ????? Sour grapes I wonder or has he defected over to the labour party now in partnership with millionaire wills ? nothing would surprise me with him. He is obviously still miffed that the conservatives alledgedly rejected him and mike ( the builders friend :-) bawden during their recent attempt at a coup and judging by these comments i am not surprised. Dinosaurs the both of them. Michael Wills is just making a noise before he and his millions dissappear at the next election - undoubtedly to write a book about how up his own a**e he is. for anyone who doesn't know, the labour government have been involved with the NSC from day one as it was jointly funded by what is now the homes and communities agency and the South West Regional development agency. So if michael wills is criticising the NSC shouldn't he also be asking the auditors to look into his own governments involvement ? Also, didn't the builders friend sit on the Regional Development Agency and was responsible for the absurd number of houses swindon has to build because he wanted swindon to become a city (don't councillors in cities get paid more?) All very cosy if you ask me. "Mr. Peter James was an arrogant, over-paid, and ineffective CEO who lived in Marlborough in luxury and had no affialiation or passion for the town whatsoever. His utter contempt for the opinions of local residents was beyond belief." can't disagree with that :-) password - doze over - how true :-)
Being inside SBC stop throwing s..t at an ex colleague and start doing something to bring the finances under control again and deliver value in our services rather than apportion blame elsewhere. Perhaps you could start with the Chief Executive and his Deputy.
Jason4
says...
10:33am Thu 10 Dec 09
In addition to this I would lquestion the budget for maintaining the Borough schools. There are many schools that are crying out for funding for repairs, new classrooms and even new buildings.
I would urge the SBC to forget the WiFi project etc for now and deal with the fundamental problems that exist within the Borough first. When they have learnt to do this, then perhaps they should expand their horizons. I fear it is a case of running before they can walk.
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stfcphil says...
9:54am Wed 9 Dec 09