THE prospect of loan funding for the restoration of the former Odeon building from Bradford Council remains in abeyance after the corporate overview and scrutiny committee deferred the decision back to the Executive.

Earlier this month the Council’s decision making Executive board agreed to provide a £12 million loan to Bradford Live, who are behind the scheme.

The loan was to come from money the Council borrows from the public loans board, and the plan is for the money to be paid back from NEC group revenue when they take occupancy of the building.

However, Councillor Adrian Naylor (Ind, Craven) called in that decision for further discussion and allow more councillors to scrutinise the loan and its potential impact on other council initiatives.

Tonight the committee deferred the matter back to the Executive for discussion on January 9. It will then go back to corporate scrutiny and overview later that month.