£14.9m
Over budget
The Worthing Integrated Care Centre — a health facility the council's own projections now say will not break even for 35 years, up from 26.
A Liberal Democrat investigation into Adur District Council & Worthing Borough Council
Is there a black hole
at the heart of our councils?
Some of the heaviest debt per resident in the country. At least three major projects in trouble, and four separate warnings about how the councils are run. Who joined the dots?
An evidence led, transparent investigation focused on protecting residents and local services.
01 — What it's cost
The scale of it is huge.
The consequence of the governance and project delivery issues raised in our investigation is money drained away from the services residents rely on.
≈£40m
Value lost
In commercial property investment funds. After ten years there is still no clear account of how the investments have performed.
£5.8m
Over budget
The Albion Street scheme in Southwick, which has left 49 much-needed social homes standing empty for years.
49
Social homes empty
Finished flats sitting unoccupied in a district with a severe housing shortage.
Frontline services impacted
Health facilities delayed. Residents waiting for homes. A car park shut for two and a half years. Less money for everyday services.
Community assets sold
Valuable community assets — including Lancing police station and Southwick beach — have been sold.
02 — Who made the links
Multiple warnings.
Who asked why?
Every time the councils were warned about how they were run, a major project was already going wrong. Who saw the connection?
What they were told
What was going wrong at the same time
2023
Adur Homes referral to the Housing Regulator. The council admitted it “did not have an effective system in place” for safety checks and records.
Who made the link?
Albion Street. 49 social homes running five years late and £5.8m over budget. The same information deficiencies were repeated, and safety recommendations ignored.
2023 to now
Internal audit. A “limited assurance” opinion from the Head of Internal Audit, repeated year after year and still in place.
Who made the link?
Integrated Care Centre. Costs now £48.945m, break-even pushed out from 26 to 35 years, water system still not rectified. Rental income reduced.
2025 to 2026
External audit. Significant weaknesses in how the councils handle risk, and in how information is used and reported.
Who made the link?
Buckingham Road car park. £827,551 of overspend committed, against a £250,000 threshold needing committee approval.
2026
CIPFA review. “Historic control failures” and a live risk that approval thresholds are applied inconsistently across projects.
Who made the link?
Investment funds. £185m placed, with reporting still “in its early stages” after nine years.
Four opportunities to ask one question — is this the same problem? Was it ever asked?
03 — The three projects
Three projects. Over £60m of cost overruns and value losses.
Different budgets, different timescales, different teams — and the same questions about oversight, reporting and transparency.
-
01
Worthing Integrated Care Centre
Budgeted at £34m. Now reported at £48.945m. Break-even pushed out from 26 to 35 years. Building still not fully open — water system not rectified.
Originally budgeted at £34 million, the health centre's costs have risen to £48.945 million — £14.9 million over budget. The council's own projections now show it will not break even for 35 years of full operation, up from 26 years — and the building is still not fully open because the water system has not been signed off as safe.
Our investigation identifies other concerns including overestimating rents and underestimating full development costs when committing to the project.
-
02
Property investment funds
£185m borrowed. ≈£40m of value gone.
The two councils borrowed £185 million and placed it into commercial "strategic property investment funds". Councillors were told these would generate £3 million a year for local services. On our estimate, built from the councils’ own figures, around £40 million of that value might have gone
Even now they can't say what the true full position is. After nine years, council reports stated in 2025 that fund reporting was still "in its early stages". The year-to-year performance of the investments remains unclear.
We estimate it is bad. We simply do not know how bad. Once a proper commercial allowance is made for repaying the debt, and for the real cost of keeping the buildings let, maintained and in good order, our view is that there is not much left — if anything at all.
-
03
Albion Street social housing, Southwick
49 social homes. Five years late. £5.8m over budget. Still empty.
Forty-nine much-needed social homes, delivered five years late and £5.8 million over budget — and they remain empty to this day. The contractor went bust. The scheme failed to follow the fire and building safety reforms recommended by the Hackitt review, published in May 2018 following the Grenfell Tower disaster and before this scheme was designed.
In a district with a severe housing shortage, 49 finished flats sit unoccupied because the project was not managed effectively.
04 — Three years on
Still not fixed.
The councils might present the CIPFA review published in August 2026 as a clean bill of health. Its summary does say financial management and governance are “sound and improving”.
Section 1.2 — where the review sets out what actually needs fixing — says something else.
Key risk 4 · Major capital programmes and inconsistent project governance
“Although governance has improved, historic control failures and maturing processes create residual risk that approval thresholds, member decision requirements and financial controls are applied inconsistently across projects.”
Worthing Borough Council External Assurance Review, CIPFA, August 2026 — section 1.2
Two councils. One management team.
That risk was still live in August 2026 — three and a half years after the council told the Regulator its own systems did not work. Shared management should mean a problem found in one place is checked in the other.
We are asking for, one review covering both councils, all of the projects, and the whole period.
05 — What needs to happen
Six immediate actions.
Residents of both councils deserve better. We are calling for practical action including some or all of the following.
A root and branch review of both councils
Independent, covering both councils, every major project, and the whole period — not one council, one year, or one financial question. We are asking, either the Secretary of State to order an inspection under section 10 of the Local Government Act 1999, and the incoming authority to insist on it. Or where the Auditor's own powers allow, a Public Interest Report into the losses across all three projects should follow.
Effective financial reporting, immediately
That means clear, open and transparent.
Nothing signed away while reorganisation is paused
No major asset sales or long-term contracts should be rushed through while local government reorganisation is paused. Every disposal above £100,000 and every capital contract above £1 million should be published, with its business case, before it is made.
Referral to the Ombudsman
To the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, to examine whether maladministration has caused injustice to residents.
Accountability
Understand what went wrong with oversight and scrutiny that contributed to issues escalating.
A service protection plan
To ring-fence essential frontline services from further cuts caused by these losses.
06 — The six to fix
Enough is enough.
The challenge is to fix the problems at Adur and Worthing councils. The pause in local government reorganisation is an opportunity for a full reset.
Fix council priorities
Get the basics right before grand schemes: safe council homes, clean streets, reliable services, honest budgets, proper project management and clear answers — not speculative investment funds, complex proposals and showpiece regeneration the councils cannot control.
Fix the debt problem
Find out how it went so wrong and left Adur and Worthing with some of the worst council debt in the country. Stop blaming everyone else until the councils have corrected their own decisions and weak oversight.
Fix the management muddle
The shared Adur–Worthing administration was meant to save money and reduce duplication. Instead, too many decisions became remote, confused and hard to challenge. Learn the lessons before the same mistakes are carried into the new council.
Fix Adur Homes
Tenants need safe, decent homes now. Adur needs to regain the ability and confidence to build council housing again, rather than being left behind when national council-house building returns. Albion Street shows how far there is to go.
Fix the environment practically
Practical action, not glossy slogans. Hold Southern Water to account on sewage, flooding and water quality — and explain why Worthing's investment fund bought Southern Water's headquarters while residents demand tougher action on water companies.
Fix our communities
Clean, safe, well-connected neighbourhoods where everyday problems get dealt with: streets and pavements maintained, antisocial behaviour tackled, local centres supported and getting around made easier.
Get in touch
If you want to know more, or to get involved with the campaign, we would like to hear from you.
The full report is available on request.
Email Campaign@AWCblackhole.com
We will use your email address only to reply to you and to send you what you have asked for. We will not add you to any mailing list unless you ask us to, and we will not share your details with anyone. Our privacy notice explains more.
Sources & methodology
This campaign is evidence-led. The figures and findings summarised on this page are drawn from our investigation into Adur District Council and Worthing Borough Council, and from publicly available material including:
- Regulatory Notice: Adur District Council, Regulator of Social Housing, 10 May 2023 — gov.uk
- The Head of Internal Audit's annual opinions, including successive “limited assurance” findings.
- Auditor's Annual Report on Adur District Council, 2024-25, published February 2026 — a public document.
- Worthing Borough Council External Assurance Review, CIPFA, published August 2026, section 1.2 — gov.uk
- Governance Processes and Buckingham Road Multi-Storey Car Park Refurbishment, Joint Audit and Governance Committee, 29 January 2025 — council papers
- Council budget, cabinet and committee reports covering the Worthing Integrated Care Centre, the strategic property investment funds and the Albion Street scheme.
- Officer statements to members regarding investment fund reporting, made in 2025.
- Numerous freedom of information requests made to both councils.
- Building a Safer Future: Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety (the Hackitt review), published 17 May 2018.
The figure of around £40 million of value lost in the property investment funds is our estimate, built from the councils’ own accounts and reports. The workings are set out in the full report. Despite numerous requests, no full cost breakdown has been provided, and reporting still remains in the early stages of formulation according to council minutes. Elsewhere, where a figure is an estimate we say so, and where a claim reflects our own interpretation of the evidence rather than a published number, it is expressed as such. Full references are provided with the report on request.
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