Council leader forced to U-turn on funding claim

A council leader has backtracked on claims £14.6m left over from a cancelled leisure centre project was not available to spend elsewhere in Bradford.

Reform UK councillor Stephen Place had accused Shipley's Labour MP Anna Dixon of making "false claims" after she said the money could be spent on other projects.

Dixon said she had forwarded a letter from government confirming the funding from the Local Regeneration Fund remained available to the council on 9 September, but Place said he had not received the letter until Wednesday.

He has now confirmed the £14.6m from the cancelled Squire Lane Leisure Centre will be retained by Bradford Council and can be spent on other projects.

Place said he had raised the matter with senior council officers in early September, but the executive had only received written confirmation from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) on Wednesday.

"We warmly welcome that these monies will not be clawed back by national Government and that they remain available as a capital grant," he said.

Dixon said Place had "wasted months, failing to make use of millions of secure government funding" and residents needed a "clear alternative plan for how this money will be spent".

"It should not have taken the Reform UK leader more than three months to publicly acknowledge this," she said.

"It is deeply concerning that the Reform leadership on the Council were willing to cancel a multimillion-pound project without a clear understanding of whether this funding could be retained for the benefit of Bradford."

The disagreement arose over claims that money given to Bradford Council by the government for a leisure centre at Squire Lane in Girlington, which was scrapped by Reform in July, could be spent to reopen Bingley Pool.

Dixon, campaigners and local councillors had called on the authority to spend the money on the pool, after Dixon said she had had it confirmed by Jim McMahon MP, minister for local government, devolution and regional growth, that the council could retain the funding.

Place, however, denied receiving the confirmation from MHCLG, saying: "Claims that Bradford Council has existing funding available to spend on Bingley Pool are categorically untrue."

Independent Bingley Councillor Joe Wheatley said he was "glad" Place had "woken up to the fact he has got a letter that we can spend that money on whatever we like".

Meanwhile, Jeremy Thackray, chair of the Friends of Bingley Pool, said Place had been invited to a meeting of the Friends of Bingley Pool on Wednesday evening, but did not attend.

"We know what our next step is but up until now we've been trying to work out what is the legal position of that money and it does seem like everything is coalescing around it's available, Bradford can spend it," he said.

"It seems everyone is coming to an agreement it is there and we can work out little administrative problems but in general Bingley Pool could be a place it could be spent."

Place said the council was not yet able to commit the money to a particular project but would "look to utilise them in future, to the benefit of Bradford residents".

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