Reform ‘has County Hall plan’

BUT LEADERSHIP WON'T YET REVEAL HOW THEY WILL PAY FOR MAJOR FACELIFT

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

REFORM UK insists it has “got a plan” to pay for a big refurbishment at its Nottinghamshire County Council headquarters which a previous estimate said could cost nearly £30 million.

The council's finance chief has confirmed that money has only been set aside to cover basic maintenance of the building, on the banks of the Trent, but not the major refurbishment that the previous Conservative council backed away from to save taxpayers’ money.

County Hall in West Bridgford was the council's main base from the 1950s until the previous Tory administration moved the HQ to the Oak House building in Hucknall, with meetings held there from March last year.

It cost the then-Conservative council £19 million to build Oak House, but it said moving there marked a huge saving as it claimed County Hall would have needed essential maintenance costing £30 million over the next 12 years.