Freedom of Information request reveals list of ten Wakefield Council buildings that were uninsured in 2024
Wakefield Council’s headquarters and the city’s Grade-I listed County Hall were among ten buildings without insurance cover during 2024, the authority has confirmed.
Earlier this year, it emerged the council had been exposed to a £370m financial risk after it was found a number of its properties had not been insured for almost three years.
A report said the authority faced “significant reputational risk” unless “sufficient and appropriate insurance cover” for the buildings was established.
At the time, the number and identity of uninsured, or under-insured, buildings was not publicly revealed, but some were described as “heritage buildings”.
The council’s chief legal officer previously said the lack of insurance cover related only to the rebuild value of properties, not to council staff working within them.
Following a Freedom of Information request, the council has named the properties that were uninsured during 2024.
They include Wakefield One, the council’s headquarters building which accommodates a number of local authority departments and the city’s library and museum.
Also on the list is the “nationally important” County Hall, which dates back to 1898 and previously served as the council’s headquarters.
Earlier this year, the council agreed to spend £5.9m to carry out urgent repairs to the building, mainly to its roof.
Castleford Civic Centre, which is to be taken over by a school trust and demolished to enable new education facilities to be built, is also named.
Other buildings without cover during 2024 include the former BHS store on Kirkgate, which was acquired by the council in 2019 and will become the new home for the library and museum when the £12m project is completed.
The former Kellingley Social Club, which is set to be demolished to make way for improved sporting facilities in Knottingley, and the former Castleford Swimming Pool, earmarked to be bulldozed to make way for social housing, are also listed.
In response to the request, the council’s senior information governance officer said “challenging regulatory changes” had led to a “high demand for insurance coverage but reduced supply”.
They said: “The insurance market is in a ‘hard phase’, and during this time positive financial results become more difficult for insurers.
“Unfortunately, for a period during 2024, the following buildings were impacted by insurance risk decisions made by our previous property insurer.
“The council’s new insurance contracts provide full cover for all council buildings.”
In June, the council’s audit committee was told that “comprehensive cover” had been arranged for its entire property estate.
The document said: “Council officers alerted senior management, including the chief finance officer, of underinsurance and lack of insurance coverage for several buildings, with a book value of £18m and a potential rebuild value (the value used for insurance purposes) of up to £217.6m, which poses a potentially significant financial risk and reputational risk.”
Auditors subsequently concluded the list of buildings without insurance provided two years later, in November 2024, suggested the number and value of buildings without insurance had increased since the problem was first raised.
The report estimated a total exposure of up to £370m based on rebuild value.
According to the report, the council’s insurer had withdrawn insurance because there had been a lack of progress by the council in clearing “risk improvement actions” following site surveys.
In January 2022, the insurer had notified the council of its intention to reduce insurance cover on four properties and to withdraw insurance on five unoccupied properties from April 1 that year.
The report also highlighted a number of areas where the council had taken steps to address the issue, including the adoption of a new estate strategy for 2025-28.
A further financial report, published in March this year, said the council was facing a “significant” increase in premiums to insure some of its buildings, currently around £100,000 higher than expected.
The Wakefield Council buildings that were not insured during 2024, according to a Freedom of Information request response, were:
Wakefield County Hall.
Wakefield One.
Normanton Depot.
14-16 Kirkgate (former BHS building).
Castleford Civic Centre.
8a King Street.
Castleford Swimming Pool.
Horsefair House, Pontefract.
Kellingley Club.
Lightwaves Centre, Wakefield.