Tories claim £43m victory

Sep 22 2006 By Justine Halifax

PLANS to move Staffordshire County Council's headquarters at a cost of £43 million have been branded "too risky" by an independent review, opposition Tories claimed today.

In June, proposals to transfer the Labour-run authority's central office in Stafford to a purpose-built new base were put on hold after months of criticism from the Conservatives.

Now, the Tories claim, a Government-sponsored independent review has backed up their concerns.

The Gateway Review rated four of the project's five key areas red for "critical", with the fifth amber.

Coun Ian Parry, Conservative spokesman for resources, said that, as a general rule, if any categories under review were rated red then the whole project should be deemed too risky.

The Tory group's "dogged opposition" to the plans had been proved right, he said.

"Spending any amount of public money has to be fully justified, but the £43 million that Labour was going to spend on an ill-conceived and illplanned scheme was unacceptable.

"The Conservative team worked tire-lessly to convince the controlling group that there were major problems with their plans.

"This highly critical independent report confirms we were correct."

A Staffordshire County Council spokesman said: "The report is an interim document which confirmed the cabinet's decision to seek further information before making any decisions on this important issue.

"The cabinet invited the external review to take place and stresses that there is a significant amount of work still to do, with no decisions made and none recommended."

The spokesman added: "There were three options which the council asked a group of peers to look at.

"They included a new build option, but also staying put in current accommodation, with the need for modernisation.

"The third option was to move to new offices at St George's, Stafford , put forward to the county council by a private developer."