TAXPAYERS in York have footed the bill for £200-an-hour legal teams to work on the revival of the city’s Barbican centre.

An investigation by The Press has revealed £70,028.82 of public money was spent on legal fees and external consultants last year amid the search for a breakthrough in the saga surrounding the venue.

The Barbican’s continued closure also ate up £71,889.72 in repairs and maintenance and £15,500 in security costs during 2009/10, according to City of York Council’s annual accounts.

Invoices obtained by The Press have shown Leeds-based solicitors Shulmans charged the authority £11,826 for professional fees racked up by two of its partners, Andrew Latchmore and Mark Lumley, and trainee James Peel during 58.6 hours of work during the year, equating to £201.74 an hour. The company also received a £3,935 payment for attendance at meetings, phone calls and letters, with VAT adding £2,758 to the total. The services of another Leeds law firm, Walker Morris, cost £7,074.

Meanwhile, the bill for enlisting property consultants Drivers Jonas came to £43,322, including VAT, and a photographer was paid £80 for taking pictures of the Barbican.

The council revealed recently that SMG Europe (Holdings) Limited, one of the world’s leading entertainment venue operators, has been chosen as the preferred bidder to run the centre.

Pete Dwyer, who chairs the council’s Barbican steering committee, said: “The expenditure on external consultants covered specialist advice to develop the procurement process and to advise on the complex tendering process and specialist building surveys for potential bidders. The consultants were secured through proper procurement and tendering processes, ensuring the council obtained the best value for money. The expenditure on repair and maintenance was the minimum deemed necessary for the period of market testing and tendering.”

The council also spent £5,049 on “advertising and publicity” during 2009/10. Mr Dwyer said this covered the statutory notices required as part of the European tendering process.


Spending ‘wasted’ say critics

OPPOSITION councillors in York have blasted the amount of public cash spent on the “shambolic” Barbican episode.

Coun James Alexander, Labour leader, said: “It isn’t only a waste that taxpayers’ money has been spent on an empty building which has been blighted and not benefited the local community, it is also a wasted opportunity which could have attracted almost two million visitors to York over the period it has been shut.”

Conservative group leader Coun Ian Gillies said: “From the start, in financial terms, the Barbican has been a white elephant, costing the city money from the day the project started through poor management, lack of use and large subsidies.”

Coun Nigel Ayre, the council’s executive member for leisure, culture and social inclusion, said: “These costs added to the imperative to secure a long-term deal for the future of the centre which did not require any ongoing contribution from taxpayers.”

He said the council did not have in-house experts for such a specialist field, so it was necessary to pay for third parties.