'Fiasco' youth regeneration project is paused

Regeneration work at the Red Brick building C site has been "paused" by Somerset Council so an audit can take place

An on-hold regeneration project, which has plans to create a learning and community space for young people, has been labelled a "fiasco".

The Red Brick Building C project in Glastonbury has been "paused" by Somerset Council so an audit can take place.

It means some contractors have not been paid, leading Conservatives to criticise the project.

Green Councillor Indra Donfrancesco, the chair of the Red Brick building, said the project is not a fiasco and the new board is doing everything possible to get things back on track.

Green councillor Indra Donfrancesco said she is "devastated" the pausing of the work has meant not all contractors have been paid

The Red Brick building C project has been awarded £2.89m from the government’s Towns Fund to develop it into a learning, cultural and community space, mainly for young people.

It is one of 10 projects part of the Glastonbury Town Deal, which has been promised a total of £23.6m of government money.

Ms Donfrancesco said the new board at Red Brick building C stepped in around Christmas to try to help monitor and guide the construction.

"We were concerned there was not enough funding left in the budget to get the roof on.

"We did our own internal audit and paused a lot of things, made a lot of changes, made a lot of savings."

She said Somerset Council looked at their findings and thought it was "prudent enough" to do their own audit.

She thanked everyone for their patience while the work is carried out and said the venue is going to be incredible when it is finished.

Conservative Glastonbury Town councillor Lil Osborn has called the Red Brick project C a "fiasco"

Councillor Lil Osborn, the Conservative leader on Glastonbury Town Council said the project has turned into a "fiasco".

She said: "They have drawn down a huge amount of the money with very little scrutiny.

"This is public money and the public have a right to know what is going on with it."

Dr Lynne Sedgemoor CBE, the Chair of the Glastonbury Town Deal board, said all of the 10 projects given government Towns Deal money are scrutinised in the same way

Dr Lynne Sedgemoor CBE, the chair of the Glastonbury Town Deal Board, which is an advisory body, said the level of scrutiny for this project is the same for any of the other nine Glastonbury Town Deal projects, which are all running successfully.

She said: "They are monitored and worked with by a Somerset Council officer and different parts of the council.

"A situational report comes to the Town Deal for each meeting, which also then goes on to the national scrutiny, and so every Town Deal project is scrutinised very, very closely in terms of its spend and its progress."

She said she cannot go into detail as to the reasons for the audit because of confidentially, but insisted the Glastonbury Town Deal Board has been completely transparent in all its dealings.

Somerset Council said it needs to be assured the government and financial management of Red Brick project C is appropriate

A spokesperson for Somerset Council, which is the accountable body for all of the Glastonbury Town Deal projects, said: "The Life Factory project, to restore Building C of the Red Brick Building, has been paused at present while a thorough and independent audit is carried out.

"Somerset Council needs to be assured the governance and financial management is appropriate for the project."

Somerset Council also said the costs of construction have risen considerably since the successful submission of the Town Investment Plan.

The authority said it is important to point out all 10 projects that are part of the Glastonbury Town Deal have their own budgets and are run independently from each other, with separate grant funding agreements in place.

Somerset Council is now establishing the building work that is still needed and whether additional fundraising is possible to allow for completion of the project.