A senior councillor says the “jury is still out” on North Yorkshire Council’s troubled house-building company Brierley Homes.
Deputy leader Gareth Dadd, executive member for finance and resources, said the authority was monitoring the company’s performance and expected results.
The councillor was speaking to colleagues on the executive committee following the publication of a consultant’s report into the company, which concluded that there was no need for it to close.
As of March 31 this year, Brierley Homes had received loans of £22.493m from the authority and also owed £2.346m in unpaid interest.
Under the terms of the original loan, the money was due to be paid back this year, although last year council bosses agreed to extend the deadline until 2028.
The company’s financial issues have prompted opposition councillors to question further large sums being loaned to the company by the council.
Cllr Dadd said: “The jury’s still out in terms of the confidence I’ve got operationally.
“But we’ve got a decision to take. We either stand by it at this stage, and no doubt we will be reviewing it in the future in terms of its policy direction, or we don’t.”
The councillor added: “I think we’ve got to hold Brierley Homes to account in some sort of way, steady as you go, make a strong business case for further investment or a retraction of investment, but do it pragmatically and sensibly.
“It’s not an open-ended cheque. I want the message to go out from this executive that they will be held to account — we are monitoring, we are watching and we expect results.”
The meeting had earlier heard from independent councillor, Paul Haslam, who questioned a decision to provide a further £2m loan facility to Brierley.
He said: “I’m very supportive of the council having its own building company.
“However, I am very concerned about the situation this company now finds itself in.
“This report is very good in that it said there’s three options. Do nothing or do something.
“Of the do something, the two options to me are we’re either in it to win it or we’re going to stagger along.
“My big concern is that we’re going to stagger along. I don’t believe that an additional £2m facility will be sufficient, and I am concerned that this is going to be a drag on the company’s performance.”
The meeting heard that the company had not yet had to use the £2m facility.
The company was launched in 2017 to deliver a return for the council, which it could invest in frontline services.
The report by consultant Tony Dodd noted that it has more than 500 homes, including over 200 affordable properties, in the pipeline.
He noted that the business had endured a difficult initial trading period with “global impacts, disappointing contractor performance and some poor project management leading to cost overruns, project delays and an erosion of profits”.
But has said it was delivering “high-quality projects with a pipeline and forecast to deliver shareholder value over the medium term”.
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