Extra £3.4 million payment to contractors carrying out work on Town Hall

Hackney Town Hall

Hackney Town Hall

Health and safety improvement works to the Town Hall are millions over budget after an extra £3.4 million payment to contractors carrying out what is described as an “essential” project was rubber-stamped, it has emerged.

This means the scheme’s costs have risen to around £16 million, according to papers from a committee meeting held last month.

A briefing note from finance director Ian Williams states he used his delegated authority to authorise the extra payment before councillors could have their say.

The paper states this was done “due to the urgency of confirming adjustments/amendments to the building’s detailed design and therefore the expenditure on the project”.

Oddly, “changes in technology since works started” were cited as a factor which contributed to the need for “additional works” to be carried out that were not originally foreseen as forming part of the project.

The bulk of the money is going to contractor Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, but some of the funds are also going to West Heath Developments Ltd, the company that won the contract to carry out specialist marble repair works.

A Town Hall spokesperson said: “The additional costs are due to changes in the scope of the works which is not unusual for a historic building and a project of this size. These necessary changes will prevent further disruptive building works from taking place in the future.”

The money was coming from the capital budget, meaning funding for other services was not affected, they stressed.

6 Comments

  1. Steve Lane on Thursday 2 February 2017 at 12:21

    Does bent head of planning Femi Nwanzi have any links with Geoffrey Osborne Ltd? or West Heath Developments Ltd? It’s worth investigating – she is well known for taking bribes in return for abusing her position and granting planning permission that in her own words “…would adversely affect light and outlook to the rear of these properties to an unacceptable degree, reducing the quality of life of these residents”. After stating this, she has recently granted the above property (Whatcott Mews N16) the right to build another floor despite it already being in breach of planning.



  2. Steve Fisher on Thursday 2 February 2017 at 12:28

    No money for housing, cuts to schools, but a lovely bit of marble in the town hall, you are a Labour council for goodness sake, I guess Hampstead socialist is to be replaced by Shoreditch or Clapton in these exciting modern zero hours times.



  3. David Shields on Thursday 2 February 2017 at 12:31

    Maybe Hackney Citizen could look into that and break a story for a change. You know,what used to be called ‘real’ reporting. It does feel like everything I read on this site I already know about.



  4. Steve Lane on Thursday 2 February 2017 at 14:06

    That would be good if they could because so far the villains involved in the above scandal, which went all the way to the then head of the council have so far, gotten away with it! I was told by the only honest councillor (who helped to get the “mislaid” documents which revealed the truth of their underhanded operations) that it was “the tip of an iceberg!”



  5. Edward Thomes on Friday 3 February 2017 at 19:54

    Yes Femi is a shareholder for West Heath developments. She dlsp oversaw the town hall works application I believe.



  6. Steve Lane on Saturday 4 February 2017 at 01:02

    Hi Ed
    Do you have any proof of this?



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