The announcement by Cheshire West and Chester Council that it will cover the acquisition costs of the HQ building in the first year has prompted Labour’s Finance and Performance spokesperson,  Councillor Justin Madders, to make the following statement: 

"This amounts to nothing more than a fire sale. The Council have committed themselves to huge expenditure with HQ which has to be paid for by the sale of existing properties and relinquishments of leases. Rather than try and work with the Council's existing buildings and make the most of existing assets, the Council will be forced to sell properties at the bottom of the market to meet the costs of the HQ purchase. This approach is totally the wrong way round. Even the Council Leader said last week that they would have to wait a few years before selling properties, but clearly things are so bad they cannot wait, and at what cost?

"This isn’t just about the actual sale of bricks and mortar. Its also about the expense and disruption that will be caused by having to constantly relocate staff from redundant buildings. Don’t forget that HQ is effectively a shell and the Council expects to spend around £3 million pounds kitting that out. Then there's the cost of moving all the staff in there, new computer equipment, office furniture, etc. Who knows what the final bill for moving all the staff around will be?"