By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
The bill for a council’s plan to improve its headquarters has increased by £301,000 because of rising construction costs.
Labour-run Bassetlaw District Council has approved the extra funds as it progresses with improvements to its Queen’s Buildings home.
The Worksop building, which also hosts the police and a Job Centre branch, is due to benefit from nearly £2.4m of decarbonisation works.
The funding will come from Government grants rather than local council tax.
These are works to reduce the carbon emissions of public buildings and improve the energy footprint, while also including measures to save on bills.
The works will include fabric improvements and a new heating system, bringing forward “large cost savings for operation and future maintenance”.
It comes as part of the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
It is expected to save the council as much as £50,000 per year and also “shield” the building from future energy price increases.
A new roof is also due to be installed on the building, with the current roof “a decade or more beyond its guaranteed life expectancy”.
This had not initially been planned but the authority says the new roof – which will include solar panels – will also help to bring further savings.
“While in good condition, it will be better to insulate and renew the roof before a leak or issue is evident, especially with the heat pumps and solar panels being installed across its surface,” the council said.
The first phase of the scheme was initially expected to cost £1.398m but has since risen to £1.699m, meaning an extra £301,000 is needed.
The funds will be found through unallocated New Homes Bonus grants.
The council says the increases are due to a 30 per cent rise in construction costs “most notably from supply shortages”.
The contractor initially appointed to conduct the work also ceased trading in September, meaning a new one had to be found.
There were also “complications with missing documentation from the council’s files”, the authority adds.
A council report said: “Through fabric improvements and a new heating system, this project will induce large cost savings for operation and future maintenance at Queen’s Buildings.”
It added: “Since its inception, a global energy crisis, supply chain shortages from the Covid-19 pandemic, and a change in the principal contractor have increased the total project costs greatly from the original expectation.”
The report says staff and leaseholders such as the police may be required to “work flexibly” while work to the building takes place.
This includes moving to alternative floors or working from home.
The extra funding was approved during a delegated decision by Councillor June Evans (Lab), cabinet member for finance, on Thursday (December 15).
The second phase, which is expected to cost £698,000, is due to be approved in February.
It brings the total cost of the works to £2.397m.
