Update from the governance and Audit report.
The committee is due to meet on Thursday September 19th, and part of the discussion are Bradford Live. The G & A report is avalable from Bradford’s local democracy page.
There are 2 interesting statements in the report, the first at page 86 which reads:
The Council has a number of interests in other entities which fall within the group accounting boundary on the grounds of control and significant influence in line with the Code. However, only the interest in Bradford Live is material in aggregate and thus warrant consolidation into the Council’s Group Accounts. The remaining interest are not material and have been treated as financial instruments in the Balance Sheet.
and again on page 127:
Bradford Live – the company is set up to deliver major refurbishment of the Odeon building and is a key part of the Council’s plans for the regeneration of the City Centre area. It is not in operation during 2023-24. The authority controls Bradford Live Ltd through its ownership of 100% of the shares in the company since August 2023, in order to provide the means by which it can maintain effective scrutiny and control over the Company’s activities and finances through to completion of the project. During 2023/24, expenditure of £40.4m was incurred, funded by £16.9m of government grant and a £23.5m construction loan from the council.
both look fairly inocuous. Let’s dig further into this matter and ask some meaningful questions because the report lacks clarity.
As council taxpayers, we are entitled to answers but so far there have been few answers and no clarity in the matter. The latest Governance papers are lifting the curtain on this asset, but are creating yet more lines of questioning. I’ll ask the following at the Thursday 19th of September meeting:
Question 1, page 86 of the unaudited accounts, Document M
- What sum is being regarded as ‘material’ and how are Bradford Council defining ‘interest’?
Question 2, page 127 of the unaudited accounts, Document M
- Can you explain the breakdown of the costings in the report. These do not concur with those already in the public domain (£43.75 million from council and grants, balance from WYCA) – is the £16.9 million from central government or WYCA?
- Were these sums entirely incurred; as the report suggests, in 2023/24?
- BDMC take ownership of Bradford Live from August 2023. So, what are the implications of BDMC taking ownership of Bradford Live, considering the validity of what was, or apparently signed by Bradford Live, as it was constituted back in 2018? That is Bradford Live is now wholly owned by BDMC and no longer an arm’s length company.
- I assume that there have been problems with the legal process causing prevarication by council. Could you please elaborate?
I’m not entirely certain about the responses to be received, but I will update this article after the meeting.