The former Debenhams building which has been been renamed as the FOLCA building, was up for discussion at the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 27 June, 2023. There was no formal report presented to the committee, but there was an outline of where the Council have got to, and were wanting to hear the views and opinions of the committee before moving forward.
Before moving on, we need to make clear there are two parts to the FOLCA building, and they are classified as FOLCA 1 and FOLCA 2.
FOLCA 1 is the Edwardian part of the building in Orange. This part of the building, is the part the New Folkestone Society wish to save. The FOLCA 2, is the Art Deco part of the building marked in purple.
FOLCA (previously Debenhams) – Google My Maps
FOLCA 1 Edwardian = Orange FOLCA 2 Art Deco = Purple
To date, five contracts relating to the FOLCA building as a whole, have been awarded by the Council, as can be seen below. The net value of the five combined contracts is £79,101.
However, what will not surprise regular readers of our blog is, there are some “irregularities” relating to these contracts.
Starting with the Structures Lab Ltd contract, who undertook a structural survey on FOLCA 2 (purple) for the awarded net sum of £12,200, the Council’s published purchase order data and payments to suppliers data tells its own story.
The purchase order data, which is the net amount, so excludes VAT, shows a purchase order for Structures Lab Ltd has been raised to the sum of £8,600.
And the Council’s payment data; which is the net amount so excludes VAT, shows Structures Lab has been paid £10,320.
Ever since the first Transparency Code was introduced in 2014, it has been mandatory for all Local Authorities, to show all payment to suppliers, all purchase orders and contract values as net (without VAT) in their published data.
Moving on, there is the Pellings contract for FOLCA 2 (purple); which was directly referenced by the Council officer during the discussion. The awarded net sum for this contract was £41,965.
The purchase order data, which is the net amount, shows a raised purchase order for the sum of £20,050 for Pellings LLP.
The Council’s payment to suppliers data shows to April 2023, Pellings LLP had been paid £12,030.
Then we turn to the Robert Winstanley contract for the windows in the FOLCA building. The contract award value was £5,346 net. According to the Council’s published purchase order data, no purchase order has been raised. Yet the payment data for this contract shows they’ve been paid £7,392 (net) for the FOLCA contract.
Next is the Colliers International contract which was awarded with a value of £12,500 net. The Purchase Order data shows a PO was raised for £12,500.
Yet the payment data shows the amount paid to Colliers was 20% more than the contract award value of £12,500.
The final contract awarded to Blitz Scaffolding for £7,000 net, was for the erection of scaffolding for a sheltered queueing system at the FOLCA Covid-19 vaccination centre. The purchase order data shows no PO raised. However, the Council’s published payment data shows they were paid £7,000.
So as you can see, from the evidence, there are a number of irregularities with each of these contracts. But why are we not surprised by this.
Now moving on to the conversation which can be watched & listened to below, there were some revealing moments.
The officer at the beginning of the video makes it clear the Council purchased the building to prevent a “scrupulous developer who would then develop it out and do something, not so pleasant and not so useful to the town centre“. We think the officer meant to say “unscrupulous developer”. Developers – Unscrupulous, who would have thought it!
The net floor space of the whole building [FOLCA 1 & 2] is 4,500 square metres, so a large space indeed, and it has a roof terrace, from which one can see the sea.
Colliers International looked at the viability of the building, in particular the following options, Flats on the first floor, a mixed used development, build to rent, sell the building and refurbishment. No of the options were viable and the least worse option was for 80 units (flats), but the maths didn’t add up and the financial gap for these units (flats) was £30m. So that idea has fallen by the wayside.
The best option for the building is refurbishment, which is the option the Council is “going for” and has a £2m funding gap; which the Council will pay for, and will not come from the £20m levelling up fund. So they are looking to protect the envelope, or rather the shell of the building; which makes sense.
They’ll be a changing places toilet in FOLCA. These toilets are for people with complex needs and this should be ready, but not open by Jan 2024.
Then the Council officer mentions the relocation of the Council offices to Otterpool, but after the Truss fiasco and the cost of living crisis kicked in, the Council refocused their efforts onto potentially relocating to the FOLCA building. The building will not be totally filled by the Council if they do move into it; which is looking increasingly likely. They also wish to use it for commercial purposes as well, hence the refurb option being the preffered option, as this will bring in rents to help their deficit filled coffers later on down the line.
There will be further consultation with the community regarding the building, but when exactly that will happen has not yet been made clear.
Oh and the staircase will stay in situ and not be moved.
A report will eventually come before the committee once the Council have a clear idea of what they exactly plan to do with the building and when. The ideas spoken of by the officers will be firmed up
There is much more in the video and you can listen to it at your leisure.
The Shepway Vox Team
Dissent is NOT a Crime
