Y Gaer: Brecon cultural scheme investigation to resume

Y Gaer, the new cultural hub and museum in Brecon, opened in December 2019

An investigation into why a new cultural hub was delivered late and £5m over budget will not be "swept under the carpet", insist council leaders.

The £14m Y Gaer centre opened in December last year, with a library and a new home for the Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery in Brecon, Powys.

Original estimates for the development were put at about £9m.

The council's audit committee was told Covid-19 was responsible for delays in delivering findings on the centre.

Internal auditors said stakeholders and staff needed to be interviewed, but coronavirus has meant they were not available.

Ian Halstead from South West Audit Partnership said work on the investigation would resume soon.

The complex was supposed to have opened by St David's Day in March 2019

Bronllys councillor Karen Laurie-Parry said she wanted to make sure that the £5m overspend would be accounted for in the inquiry, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We are responsible for the public purse," she said.

Audit committee chairman John Morris added: "This will all come out. When we get it, that will be the time to analyse and get answers to questions that Karen (Laurie-Parry) is quite rightly posing."