Conwy council conducts official investigation over 'inaccurate' Llandudno library figures
Head of finance Ms Amanda Hughes had claimed Conwy was paying around £46,000 a year in electricity bills to Npower at the current site – a sum referenced as a future saving if the move went ahead. But this was before Cllr Louise Emery produced a letterheaded bill at the Coed Pella scrutiny committee.
Cllr Emery said Conwy only owed 38% of the £46,000. This was, Cllr Emery claimed, because the rest was legally payable by other tenants of the library building's owners Mostyn Estates, who occupied other floors. But part of Conwy's argument for moving was the £126K-a-year saving, which was included in a report presented to strengthen the council's case. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
This led to Ms Hughes revealing she was 'concerned', 'disappointed', and 'dismayed' as she was only now aware Conwy had paid the full £46,000 on behalf of the whole building, throwing the '£126K' savings into doubt. The figures being questioned also led to Cllr Emery raising doubts that other savings could be incorrect.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked the council to clarify the situation and if the authority had recovered payments it had made on behalf of Mostyn Estates' tenants. A spokeswoman for Conwy County Council commented: 'Strategic director of finance and resources is investigating the issues raised at economy and place scrutiny committee on Wednesday so that the details can be clarified before cabinet consider the report on Tuesday.'
As the statement suggests, Conwy's cabinet is expected to vote in favour of the Mostyn Street library's closure on Tuesday, with the service moving to Venue Cymru as part of a UK Government-funded £10m 'arts centre' revamp. Cllr Emery, who raised the issue - as well as fears about a lack of a business plan for the revamp of the theatre - said she had serious concerns.
'I'm glad they are taking my concerns seriously with the information that I had on Wednesday, and it is good to see they are doing an investigation, but I'm quite surprised that they needed to do that considering the chief financial officer said the information she had was accurate,' she said.
'I'm very concerned that the costs, which they say are with the library, and particularly the new costs relating to moving the library, that they really don't have those drilled down in any sort of detail, and we really can't make a decision until we have exact costings of the move.'
She added: 'I don't think they've (the council) got the figures right on the rates. I don't think they've got the figures right on the future maintenance of the building. I think we are going into this blind, and I'm really concerned about the cost of moving the library and the ongoing costs if it does go into Venue Cymru.'
Mostyn Estates wouldn't comment on the situation regarding the £46,000 electricity bill but did raise fears that moving the library would affect footfall on the high street. Jon Merrick is the business development manager for Mostyn Estates.
'We are unable to comment on any matters regarding a tenant/landlord arrangement at the current library in Mostyn Street, but our position on the proposed move of the library to Venue Cymru is that we are opposed to this suggestion,' he said.
'We are totally supportive of Venue Cymru and their efforts to upgrade and refurbish the building. We believe Venue Cymru has a strong and positive story to tell, that they should aim to base their business plan for the grant funding solely on the theatre, arts, and conferencing rather than bringing in key services such as the library and Tourism Information Centre, which alienates a large proportion of local businesses and community, as well as jeopardising the town centre by removing a 200,000 footfall from Mostyn Street. This is not helpful to small independent businesses trading on the high street.'
The results of a public consultation conducted by Conwy revealed 76% of 999 residents were worried about access to the new library service at Venue Cymru. A petition of around 1,100 signatures also backed a campaign to keep the library at its current location. Conwy's leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey was unavailable for comment. Conwy's cabinet is set to vote on Tuesday 8 July.
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While the MPC should not have cut rates earlier this month, in the end those really at fault are government ministers – and, more generally, a political and media class that, for so many years, has dismissed the concerns of those of us who have constantly warned that nation states, while they can of course borrow, need to both borrow and spend responsibly. Successive UK governments have not been doing so – today's Labour administration to an increasingly reckless extent.
