Cost of Harrogate Civic Centre below budget claims council as it reveals savings of 'a million pounds a year'

The lower costs are partly the result of the sale of three of Harrogate Borough Council’s previous buildings which brought in an income of £6.9 million.

Operating a modern building also enabled the council to make further annual operational savings of almost £1 million.

Therefore, the council says, the payback period of Harrogate Civic Centre is now just six years.

What Harrogate Borough Council says

The saga of Harrogate Civic Centre began in 2015 when Harrogate Borough Council took the decision to consolidate its office accommodation and customer-facing operations into a single modern, energy-efficient building.

The new building was completed in 2017 and became the main administrative base for the council in December of that year.

Following the completion of the building, a period of minor defect rectification and contract negotiations took place with the main contractor in order to agree on a final account settlement for the building works.

Unfortunately, the construction contractor’s parent company – Harry Fairclough Limited – went into administration, so the council had to work with the appointed liquidators to agree on a settlement.

These discussions have now concluded with a final account for the construction of the building now being agreed upon.

As a result of unspent contingency and damages levied, the total overall cost of design, construction and fit-out is £12.53 million.

The sale of three of the council’s buildings resulted in the following income:

Crescent Gardens achieved a sale price of £4 million

Victoria Park House went for £1 million

Scottsdale House was bought for £1.9 million

Comments by Harrogate Borough Council leader

What leader of Harrogate Borough Council says

Coun Richard Cooper, leader of Harrogate Borough Council, said: "The civic centre is a fantastic modern and energy-efficient building that has served Harrogate Borough Council – and its residents – incredibly well over the past five years.

"Despite it taking some time to agree on the final account as a result of the construction contractor going into administration, I am delighted that the project has come in well under budget.

"The savings it has enabled us to make amount to around a million pounds a year which means we could protect frontline services, and improve them too.

"The building will continue to be used by North Yorkshire Council moving forward just as we said it would be should local government be reorganised."

Despite the abolition of Harrogate Borough Council, tomorrow, Saturday, April 1, the new bigger North Yorkshire Council taking over services says the building will be put to good use.

North Yorkshire Council will deploy staff at Harrogate Borough Council’s Civic Centre, its chief executive Richard Flinton has confirmed.

Earlier this year he told business leaders in Harrogate that the new authority “has no intention of sucking people into a ‘super HQ’ based at County Hall in Northallerton”.

Mr Flinton said: “We want a main office in every district area. We will be keeping the new office building in Harrogate and basing staff there.

"All the planners, development and housing people — all the main people that businesses and the public need to engage with — will be based in Harrogate”.