£50m bill for concert hall work threatens takeover

St David's Hall closed in September after inspectors found problems in the roof

There is a risk that a leading venue operator will not take over a major Cardiff concert venue because of increasing costs, the council leader has said.

St David's Hall will be shut for at least 18 months due to a risk of collapse from reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) found in its roof.

Huw Thomas said the cost of a replacement and wider refurbishment will be about £50m.

AMG will pay for the work, as part of a conditional 45-year lease agreed with the council's cabinet on Thursday.

The conditions mean that AMG would not take on the full lease to run the venue until required planning approval and listed building consent for the works, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

When asked if there was a risk AMG would not take over the lease because of increasing costs, Mr Thomas said: "There is always some risk. That is why it's a conditional lease."

"What they need to do now is the detailed design work and take that through the process with planning, bearing in mind the building is of course listed and the acoustics safeguards within the lease will also apply.

“I'm not saying there is no risk, but our understanding is that [AMG is] committed to this project.

Staff face uncertainty

Mr Thomas added that if AMG was not involved the council would be left to find the "significant investment" needed to make the hall safe.

He said £50m for the total repair work was "in the right ballpark".

"What's interesting in the case of St David's Hall is that a lot of the cost comes not necessarily through the roof replacement itself," he said, "but because of the position of the hall, access arrangements in a busy area and the need to crane equipment in.

"It's a very complex piece of work that unfortunately brings with it additional expense.”

The council was also told regulations allowing staff at the venue to have their jobs transferred to AMG were "unlikely to apply" because of the length of the closure.

"[The transfer rule] applies when a service is transferred from A to B," said the council's chief HR officer, Tracey Thomas. "In this case, there is no service that is transferring because AMG are taking over a closed service.”

All permanent, temporary and casual staff, as well as agency staff with more than two years of service, will be offered voluntary severance and potential redeployment.

If all eligible staff at the venue took severance, the estimated cost to the council would be about £1m.

Agency staff with less than two years of service will be released from their roles.

The council's assistant director of county estates, Donna Jones, said "opportunities" were being sought for those staff.

Christmas concert cancelled

A charity running a hospice in south Wales for children with life-shortening conditions said its Christmas concert had to be cancelled because of the venue's closure.

Tŷ Hafan's Jenna Lewis said an alternative venue could not be found in time.

"[We are] disappointed at having to cancel one of our flagship fundraising events," she said. "This comes at a time when our costs are rising, along with demand for our services."