The leader of the council took a different view
The leader of the opposition in Swansea said councillors should have more of a say in how millions of pounds is spent on projects. Cllr Chris Holley said he felt elected members weren’t involved enough as reports seeking approval for new capital expenditure or amendments to existing capital schemes went before cabinet not full council.
These documents, known as financial procedure rule 7 (FPR7) reports, often contain commercial information so are discussed in closed session in cabinet or scrutiny meetings. Cllr Holley, the leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group, made the call for more councillor decision-making in a meeting of full council on December 4. “That’s all we are asking for,” he said.
Council leader Rob Stewart, who has overseen a major programme of regeneration schemes in Swansea like the indoor arena, said it had always been the case that FPR7 reports went to cabinet. “It’s for the administration to decide how these capital monies are allocated,” he said.
The Swansea Labour leader said he was more than happy to attend scrutiny sessions to answer questions, and added that FPR7 reports were circulated to councillors. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here
There were no FPR7 reports at the most recent cabinet meeting but four in the one before that, in October, which were discussed in closed session. One involved a decision to change how £28 million was spent on a project agreed with the previous UK Government to regenerate the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks, Swansea Museum and The Strand. Another requested approval of capital projects funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
An expert review of the council’s operations which was discussed at the December 4 meeting recommended the setting up of a new board to coordinate capital projects, prioritise their delivery and oversee resources. The council is setting up a board along these lines in response.
The expert review concluded that the authority was performing strongly in all areas, using its resources well and had sound governance in place, but it felt stronger oversight of projects was needed.
Meanwhile, some details of project expenditure were disclosed in reply to a written question by Cllr Holley and two other councillors about how much of the £1.3 billion city deal for the Swansea Bay City Region, which covers four counties, had been directed to projects in Swansea.
In a written answer Cllr Stewart said £22.85 million of city deal money – that’s UK Government and Welsh Government money – had gone towards the new indoor arena while the council contributed £40.36 million. And £13.71 million of city deal money had gone towards the new office block on The Kingsway with the council contributing £29.83 million.
The new office block, called 71/72 The Kingsway, is now open and has just welcomed a new tenant called Veeqo, which was acquired by e-commerce giant Amazon four years ago.
The indoor arena opened its doors in 2022 although the external glass lift from the ground floor to the podium was left unfinished when contractor Buckingham Group went into administration. The lift did start working on July 16 this year following specialist work but was put out of action just three days later when a member of the public damaged it. The administration said the lift has been in operation since that time, except during maintenance, and CCTV is going to be installed.
Across Oystermouth Road from the arena is a new multi-storey car park which Buckingham Group also left unfinished. The council appointed different contractors who have been working behind sheeting for months. The work has involved redesigning and re-doing bits of the car park, not just finishing it off, so it’s taking longer than planned. The project is currently scheduled for completion early next year, with the groundfloor commercial units to be fitted out in February.
