Formal Council Questions and Responses

At this formal question session, Councillor Evans asked the Leader of the Council whether Newport City Council had been repaid the £6 million loan it made for the Newport Indoor Market, which was due at the end of February 2026. Councillor Batrouni replied that the loan has not yet been repaid, that talks with the developer are ongoing, and that more detail cannot be given yet because of commercial sensitivities. The minute records no decision.

Some sentences of this summary are missing in English, because an older automatic check removed them from the English only. The Welsh version has them.

1. Repayment of the Newport Indoor Market loan

   Decided

   The minutes record no decision on this item.

   Why

   The Leader said the developer is fully engaged with the Council and discussions are ongoing, but could not give more detail because of commercial sensitivities. The Leader said an update would be shared when possible.

   Based on the minutes

Written by AI from the council's minutes and reports. Sentences with a number or name that can't be found in those papers are removed automatically, but mistakes are still possible. Councils publish no word-for-word record of meetings, so this says what was decided and why. Read the official papers to be sure.

1. 1

   Question to the Leader of the Council: 2026/12 - Newport Indoor Market

   Minute

   Councillor Evans asked: Newport Indoor Market update In September last year I asked you, at a full council meeting, whether or not we had received any profit share from the market. and if you were confident we would receive the full £6 million loan back in full. You confirmed we hadn’t received any profit shares, and the loan wasn’t due until the end of February. Now that deadline has passed have we received the full repayment? If not, how much is outstanding, and what actions have you taken to ensure that we receive all of it? Councillor Batrouni responded: As I’m sure you will agree, the market development continues to be a popular visitor destination offering, retail, leisure and hospitality services, as well as serviced office accommodation for SME’s and start-up businesses. The loan has, as yet, not been repaid, but the developer is fully engaged with the Council and discussions are currently ongoing regarding this. As you will appreciate, I cannot comment on these discussions in further detail at the moment due to commercial sensitivities, but a further update will be shared as soon as I am in a position to do so.

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