Just a sixth of the city council’s “in-house team” working on the multi-million-pound renovation of Aberdeen’s Provost Skene House actually work for the local authority, it has emerged.
The £3.6 million project, which began in August, aims to transform the A-listed, 16th century building into a major new visitor attraction honouring the city’s most famous and influential residents.
The Flourmill Lane building, which dates from 1545, will include artefacts and memorabilia as well as audio-visual exhibitions.
Council chiefs say they are confident the work will be completed by next autumn and will prove another tourist magnet for the increasingly important visitor market.
But while the local authority promised the construction, which involves removing rotten timbers and replacing roof slates, would be carried out by council employees, a senior source has said this is not the case.
It is understood there are around a dozen workers on the site, which is clad in scaffolding.
But the source said that just two were joiners from the council, while the other work on the roof, pointing and internal heating and electrical works have been contracted out to other firms.
They said: “There are just two council joiners on the site with a team of around 12 in total.
“The council will always come back and say that it is specialist work that they require contractors for but we have guys who can do the work.
“Slates are slates at the end of the day and we have slaters.
“It just seems to be the easy option for them and they seem keen to just hive this work out.
“It seems to be the thin edge of the wedge of privatising services.”
Scaffolding was erected around the 16th-Century property in August and the aim is to transform it into an interactive “hall of heroes” – with displays on the likes of Annie Lennox and Denis Law.
A city council spokeswoman said: “The number of employees from the building services team involved directly in the renovation of Provost Skene’s House will fluctuate according to the programmed works.
“In addition to carrying out works, Aberdeen City Council’s in-house building services team was appointed to act as principal contractor for the specialist conservation sub-contractors needed to meet the conditions of listed building consent.”
