Opposition in a spin over Guildhall leak

Staffing cuts have been blamed for an undetected water leak that caused thousands of pounds worth of damage at Hull's Guildhall.

The leak from a washing machine in the building's first-floor kitchens was not spotted for three days over the Christmas and New Year period.

Water damage was caused to a recently-refurbished office suite on the floor below, which houses the council's senior officer team.

It is believed some water also entered the basement of the listed building, where traces of asbestos were recently discovered.

Although the leak triggered an alarm inside the Guildhall it did not register on the authority's externally-based security system Civic One.

The damage was only discovered when a member of the public passing the building in Alfred Gelder Street reported the alarm going off.

At yesterday's full council meeting, opposition Labour leader Councillor Steve Brady said the incident was a legacy of a £36,000 cutback in supervisory staffing costs at the Guildhall by the ruling Liberal Democrats.

The cuts initially left the building unmanned on evenings, at weekends and over holiday periods.

More recently, the remaining staff have been paid overnight to resume evening duties.

Cllr Brady said: "This episode underlines our concerns when these cuts were made.

"I have been told there is considerable damage to the roof of the senior management team's offices and to the carpets.

He said there had been several recent failures in the system connecting alarms in the Guildhall with the Civic One system.

"I believe there is now all-party agreement on making sure these sorts of incidents do not happen again and hopefully progress will now be made," he added.

At the same meeting there was also criticism of a decision to allow a council mailshot to 500 homes in the Beverley ward featuring comments from Lib Dem Councillor Dave McCobb welcoming moves to save a threatened bus service.

Labour councillors claimed the mailshot was political and a misuse of taxpayers' money.