A transport authority is under fire after making a £10m loss following the sale of its headquarters in Glasgow.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which has faced criticism in the past for its spending decisions, took the multi-million pound hit and spent another £5.75m finding alternative premises.
SPT helps run the public transport network in the west of Scotland by co-ordinating delivery of bus and underground services.
It is the country’s biggest transport authority and serves users across twelve local authority areas.
SPT is facing a financial squeeze after it emerged that that its capital support budget from the Government is to be lower than expected.
The authority believed it would receive around £22m in this area, but will only get £16.034m.
The level of support for subway modernisation will also be £20m in 2016/17, rather than £45m.
However, SPT’s own budgetary decisions are also under the spotlight.
The authority is to move its headquarters to a property on Glasgow’s St Vincent Street on February 8, but the shift comes against a backdrop of financial loss.
In 2008, before the financial crash, SPT bought the seven-storey Consort House for nearly £18m.
The building is next to Queen Street station and is a prime location for any public or private sector organisation.
However, as part of the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme, Network Rail was tasked with overhauling the busy Glasgow railway station.
This included quango Transport Scotland approving the sale and demolition of Consort House.
A deal was finalised last year for £8m, which was £10m less than the purchase price eight years earlier.
Around the same time, SPT purchased a new headquarters at St Vincent Street for nearly £6m and signed a separate £1.79m contract with McLaughlin and Harvey Construction Ltd to “facilitate” the move.
The aim of the contract is to ensure the building has the “highest possible efficiency rating” and the correct mechanical and electrical works.
An SPT report stated: "The opportunity has been taken to fully engage with staff to structure the floor arrangements to maximise “synergy” of functions; something that has been very difficult to realise due to the restricted floor plate construction of Consort House."
In 2010, SPT became a by-word for scandal after senior figures at the organisation quit amid a row over expenses.
One of the controversies centred around an SPT meeting in Manchester that was held on the same day as a Uefa cup final involving Rangers.
Central Scotland MSP John Wilson questioned the success of the property deals and said: “Once again the financial competence of SPT comes into question. At a time of public sector financial constraints, the board and management of SPT appear to be incapable of managing the resources which would be better spent ensuring better and cheaper public transport.”
A spokesperson for SPT said: “SPT inherited a full repairing lease for Consort House, with annual costs of approximately £750,000. The price paid by SPT to purchase Consort House in 2008 reflected market values at that time and removed the ongoing annual lease costs.
“Purchasing the building also removed the liability for SPT to restore it at a future date, resulting in a further cost saving. Purchasing Consort House was the appropriate business decision in 2008.”
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