‘We’re justified in extra outlay on Pimlico heating consultants’, says council

Westminster council has defended spending an additional £1.2m on consultants after opposition councillors called for the decision to be reviewed.

The local authority said consultants will work on finding a long-term solution for the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU), which is said to be beyond its design life.

The heating system, which is more than 70 years old, feeds into thousands of households, as well as businesses and schools in Pimlico.

In 2023, the council commissioned a review of the PDHU following rising maintenance bills and concerns about the state of its ageing infrastructure.

But on Friday, opposition councillors Ed Pitt Ford, Jim Glen and Tim Mitchell called the decision in for review. Cllr Glen said: “The post-war public heating system in Pimlico has reached the end of its life. The council commissioned consultants in 2023 to explore the best options.

“Eighteen months later, after £1.4 million has been spent on the project, the consultants have not produced a clear evaluation of all the possible options. Without questioning this work, the Labour-controlled cabinet just approved another £1.2m to be spent on the same consultants.

“We do not believe this is value for money for the council and have called for this decision to be reconsidered. At this rate the council will have spent over £750 for each of the 3300 households on the system, just deciding what to do.”

A meeting to review the decision has been provisionally set for April 28. It will be up to the decision-makers to provide a response to the reason for the call-in and present it to the scrutiny committee for review. The committee will then vote to either refer the decision back to the cabinet or take no further action.

A Westminster City spokesman said upgrading the PDHU was a large and complicated project with significant implications for thousands of households in the borough. They said: “That’s why the council is undertaking detailed work on these options to make sure we find a long-term solution which keeps energy bills low and minimises the cost of construction and maintenance.

“We have already made progress, with the analysis to date narrowing down the list of options, now enabling further detailed development to be done on these options.”

Westminster City council approved the measure during a speedy cabinet meeting on Monday evening. Cllr Liza Begum, cabinet member for housing services, said while significant progress had been made to understand the different technologies available to update PDHU, further analysis was needed before finalising a shortlist of options.

Debbie Jackson, the senior council official overseeing the project, said the extra money will help her team whittle down the number of upgrade options from 14 to six.

Pictured top: Cllrs Jim Glen, Tim Mitchell and Ed Pitt Ford outside the Pimlico District Heating Undertaking. The trio are objecting to the consultation costs (Picture: LDRS)