Issue - meetings

Alexandra Palace and Park Emergency Capital Works

Meeting: 28/05/2021 - Cabinet Member Signing (Item 3)

3 ALEXANDRA PALACE AND PARK EMERGENCY CAPITAL WORKS pdf icon PDF 195 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader considered the report which sought approval for emergency capital works at Alexandra Palace and Park. It was noted that the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust (the Trust) had notified the Council, in its role as corporate trustee, that there were two urgent capital schemes that needed to be undertaken within the palace. These works were required to enable the palace to operate safely, and their scale exceeded their financial capacity. One was the West Hall rewire project and the other was the replacement of the fire alarm system in the West Hall, the Great Hall, and Palm Court.

 

It was noted that the Council was the corporate trustee for the Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust. In that capacity, the Council had a statutory duty “to uphold, maintain and repair” the park and palace. The Council had been informed that there was a requirement for certain urgent works to be undertaken and that the Trust was not able to undertake the works from its existing resources.

 

In considering and supporting the report, the Leader recognised that this represented a significant capital grant in addition to existing revenue and capital grant funding provided annually to the Trust. This was to help the Trust meet the cost of safety works, consistent with the Council’s responsibilities as corporate trustee.

 

The Leader RESOLVED

 

1.    To approve an additional capital grant of £0.858m to Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust.

 

2.    That capital budget of £0.858m be vired from the General Fund approved capital programme 2021/22 Contingency to the Alexandra Palace grants budget for this purpose.

 

Reasons for decision

 

The Council is the corporate trustee for Alexandra Palace and in that capacity has obligations to maintain the park and palace.

 

The Trust advises that these urgent works cannot be met by the annual capital grant that the Council makes available in discharge of its obligations as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the report.

 

Alternative options considered

 

Not to fund the urgent fire alarm replacement works

 

The Council could decide to not fund these works. This is not recommended as the non-replacement of the fire alarm system would represent a health & safety issue that needs to be resolved.

 

Not to fund the urgent electrical works

 

The Council could decide to not fund these works. This is not recommended as the current system is over 20 years old, the manufacturer of the system no longer trades, the supply of spares is not guaranteed, and the position of key elements of the system presents a health and safety risk when they need to be maintained.