Investigation into removal "without due care" of significant city statue finds council officers failed to follow agreed procedures

An internal investigation into the removal of a significant city statue has found that officers at Stoke-on-Trent City Council were responsible for the instructions to contractors that led to the statue being removed “without due care”.

The report, published on Friday (3 March) said that contractor Galliford Try had no culpability, and that council officers acted “without proper authorisation and did not follow agreed council processes”.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council have announced works to fully restore the statue.

The ‘Capo’ brick sculpture of the head of Josiah Wedgwood by artist Vincent Woropay was very seriously damaged during works to expand the Marina Way roundabout at Festival Park, at the end of January.

The report revealed that the event was reported to the council via social media and as soon as it was reported, “immediate action was taken by the Council to recover and preserve the remains of the sculpture which was in many pieces”.

The works were part of a council initiative to improve access to Festival Park, following the opening of the Etruria Valley Link Road at the start of the year.

The investigation was ordered by council leader Abi Brown, who had no prior knowledge of the issue until the incident had taken place, Stoke said.

The report found that the Task Order and Purchase Order were placed without checking there was an authorisation in place. The works were then allowed to proceed without checking there was an authorisation in place.

The report contains five recommendations that have been “fully accepted” by the city director, who will now consider any “disciplinary consequences for individual officers flowing from the report”, it has been revealed.

The recommendations were as follows:

• That a Chief Officer decision be made retrospectively and published with regard to the Marina Way works and formally appointing Galliford Try.
• A member consultation email template be introduced so that it is absolutely clear what Cabinet Members are being asked to do and where delegated decision-making authority lies
• That the City Director provide guidance to Directorates on how consultation with elected members should take place to ensure that there is no misconception as to roles and responsibilities.
• Officers must assure themselves of who has authority to make decisions and this should be demonstrated in reports; management should regularly test this understanding through 1-2-1’s, PLAN’s and the Councils Assurance/Accountability conversations.
• Any regeneration scheme involving a site that contains a work of art, heritage asset or listed structure must have signed Director approval for the scheme before work may commence and that this approval must be based on an expert cultural assessment.

City director Jon Rouse said: “This event was deeply regrettable and I want to offer apologies on behalf of the council. We will ensure that in future no decision can be made about any significant work of public art in the city without a proper consideration of its cultural and social value, and without adherence to a proper process, including public engagement.”

Cllr Brown said: “I care deeply about our city’s culture and heritage, as I know residents across our city do. I know that the council’s workforce does as well, which is why this investigation has been taken so seriously to put every safeguard in place to stop this from happening again.

“I’m really pleased to say that despite the severe damage, we engaged specialists to help us assess and agree how best to reconstruct the statue. A careful audit and survey will now take place of all of the recovered parts of the statue – of which there is a considerable amount.

“I have made it very clear that I expect the statue to be fully restored and from these initial assessments it will enable a better understanding of the work involved to do this. When the restoration is completed, and we cannot put a timeframe on that at this stage, a consultation will take place for the most appropriate place to relocate the statue to, so that it can be seen and enjoyed by residents and visitors to the city for years to come.”

Lottie Winson