Issue - meetings

The report sought approval to accept up to £3,290,823 of funding from the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH: SHF) programme. The funding would be obtained through the London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium, and Camden Council as the Lead Authority of the pan-London partnership.

Haringey Council would enter into a funding agreement with the consortium, and an agreement with the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ).

The funding would be used to support a programme of retrofit / energy efficiency works for up to 403 properties over the next three years.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1. To agree to enter into the Consortium with London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium, and Camden Council as Lead Authority, for the Warm Homes Social Housing Fund (WH: SHF) Wave 3.

2. To approve the acceptance of up to £3,290,823 of funding allocated from the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH: SHF) programme via the London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium.

3. To approve entering into legal agreements with the London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium and the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ). This included a grant funding agreement and collaboration agreement.

4. To approve up to 5% of grant funding taken from the administration & ancillary 15% (A&A) being retained by London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium as per their management fee of the Consortium.

5. To approve the overall programme budget detailed in the Background Information of the Exempt Information Report.

6. To approve any additional grant (and match funding allocation) available via the Consortium throughout the three-year programme, can be accepted via delegated authority by the Director of Housing in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance up to a value of £1.5m.

7. To approve that the main consultant appointment (MDC / Retrofit Designer / BRPD) can be procured and approved under delegated authority by the Director of Housing, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance, and as part of the budget agreed in recommendation 3, up to a value identified in the exempt part of the report.

Reasons for decision

The funding would support delivering the retrofit works to our social housing stock, whilst making our social homes decent as per the regulatory standard. This supports our objectives set out within the Housing Asset Management Strategy & Housing Energy Action Plan.

Being a part of the pan-London approach offers Haringey Council the chance to both learn and collaborate on a regional level. London Councils (Retrofit London) Consortium consists of 27 total members (21 boroughs and 6 housing associations).

The programme could be accommodated for within the budget allocation for carbon reduction and major works within the latest Medium Term Financial Strategy.

Alternative options considered

There was a financial shortfall for the retrofitting and decent homes works required for the social housing, and therefore not seeking government grant funding to support our capital works programme would mean that the programme was not financially viable.

The Council could have applied for government grant funding without joining the pan-London consortium; but the level  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

The Family Hubs Programme was part of a national funded initiative, jointly managed by the Department for Education and the Department for Health and Social Care. Funding is provided to 75 upper-tier local authorities with high levels of deprivation. Haringey was one of the Local Authorities which had received funding.

Family Hubs offered a range of support services to families across the borough from pregnancy, through to childhood, and up to age 19 (or 25 for those with special educational needs and disabilities). These services were available both in person and online.

The report provided an update on the grant funding from the Department of Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for the continuation of the Family Hubs Programme in Haringey. Also, it sought approval to accept the grant funding of approximately £1.3 million in accordance with Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 21.01 (Approval for Receipt of Grants from External Bodies).

To successfully continue delivering the Infant-Parent Mental Health element of the programme, the report sought approval to vary the terms of the existing contract for the provision of Parent Infant Psychology Service (PIPS) delivered by Whittington Health NHS Trust and extend for further period of 12 months at cost of £265,955 in accordance with CSO 18.03. The total aggregate value of the contract would be £757,865 including proposed variation/extension.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1. In accordance with CSO 21.01 to grant a permission to accept external funding from Department of Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) estimated to be £1.3m for financial year 2025/2026 to continue the Family Hub and Start for Life Programme.

2. To approve the variation of the contract terms for the provision of Parent Infant Psychology Service provided by Whittington Health NHS Trust, and to extend for a further period of twelve (12) months from 1st May 2025, at a cost of £265,955, as permitted under CSO 18.03. The total aggregate value of the contract will be £757,865 (excluding VAT) including proposed variation/extension.

Reasons for decision

The Family Hubs programme’s core aim was to improve family services including Start for Life services, particularly in areas with the highest levels of deprivation and disproportionately poor health and educational outcomes. Accepting the external funding would enable the Council to continue with its commitment to successfully deliver the Family Hubs Programme in 2025- 2026. This Programme was needs led, responded to resident demand and provides multi agency services that were accessible locally.

The Council had received late notification of grant funding for the continuation of the Family Hubs Programme for the 2025/26. To ensure compliance with the grant conditions and the uninterrupted provision of services to families and Family Hub staff, it was recommended that the terms of the existing contract for PIPS be varied to allow for an extension of an additional 12 months. Given the time constraints and resource availability, this course of action was deemed to be in the best interest of the Council.

The need  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6

To request approval to award a construction contract for refurbishment and extension works at Alexandra Primary School.

To request approval to issue a letter of intent representing 10% of the contract sum.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1. Approve, pursuant to contract standing order (CSO) 9.07.1 (c) an award of contract to undertake refurbishment and extension works at Alexandra Primary School based on a tender contract sum of £902,129.37.

2. Approve a client contingency as set out in Part B of this report which will be strictly managed under change control governance arrangements.

3. Approve the issuance of a Letter of Intent up to a value of £100,000.00, pursuant to CSO 9.07.3. This is detailed in Part B.

Reasons for decision

In February 2024, Cabinet approved Alexandra Primary School to provide 10 SEND places with a Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties (SEMH) focus. The places would be provided for key stage one (KS1) children with Complex Needs as part of the Safety Valve Programme.

A feasibility study was completed in early 2024, which identified the existing former caretakers building as having sufficient capacity to deliver the 10 SEMH places. Detailed design work has been undertaken, which had set out the specifications for the refurbishment and the extension to the building.

A standard building contract was recommended as the most efficient solution to meet the project deadline of September 2025.

Working with the Strategic Procurement team, a competitive tender has been completed. The Council benefited from strong market interest and nine tender submissions were received. The detailed breakdown of the tender evaluation is included in Part B of the report.

The preferred bidder met the quality requirements set by the Council, had responded to the technical requirements of the tender and offers a contract price that represented value for money. The award of the contract would allow the Council to work towards providing the additional 10 SEND places at Alexandra Primary School by September 2025.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing – This would result in Haringey failing to meet its commitment to deliver additional SEN spaces by September 2025 under the Safety Valve Programme. This would expose the Council to high revenue costs to provide the necessary school places outside of the borough and would mean that no savings would be realised through the Safety Valve programme for the ten places this project will provide. It would also mean that the positive outcomes for resident’s wellbeing will not be realised either as some residents will continue to travel outside of the borough to secure an education.

In-house – There was currently no resource within the Council that had the capacity, specialist expertise or qualifications to deliver this service.

This report sought approval to award the Public Health Contract for Community Sexual Health Services – Young people sexual health and women’s Long- Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) service to Central North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) in accordance with Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 9.07.1 (d) and 16.02.

Subject to approval being granted, the contract would be awarded for a period of 3 years from 1October 2024 to 30September 2027 with an option to extend for a further period of 1.5 years.

The coronavirus crises brought up issues regarding inequality for different sectors of the community including vulnerable and young people. various cultures. There was an aspiration to improve engagement with young men. One way this would be done would be to have a dedicated outreach provision.  Sexual health specialists would go into the community and although more women were likely to be engaged, there was likely to be a good upward trajectory of men becoming more engaged. Increasing men’s understanding of the issues and normalising testing around men (and women) would help reduce repeat infections.

The Cabinet Member enquired about value for money and getting comparable results from neighbouring boroughs.  The meeting heard that Haringey was comparable to neighbouring boroughs and had a dedicated young people sexual health (under 25) and women (of all ages) LARC service.  These two groups based on survey had requested local services easily accessible within the borough and the service reflected their needs.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED 

1.    The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1(d) and 16.02 agrees to award, a contract for the provision of a Community Sexual Health Service focusing on young people sexual health and women’s LARC, to CNWL via a direct award process under the Provider Select Regime (PSR).

2.    The proposed contract shall run for a period of three (3) years commencing 1st October 2024 to 30th September 2027. with an option to extend for a period or periods of up to one and a half (1.5) years. For the avoidance of doubt the maximum contract length would be four (4) years and 6 months years, if extended.

3.    The three-year contract term will be at a cost of £1,000,000 per annum (totalling £3 million over 3 years). The aggregated total cost of the contract including the proposed extension period will be £4,500,000.

Reasons for decision 

The current contract expired on 30th September 2024. The provider was delivering a good service, and the requirements of the contract were not changing considerably.

The Council was permitted to award a new contract to the existing provider (CNWL) in accordance with the Health Care Services Regulations (Provider Selection Regime) 2023, which came into force on 1 January 2024.

The recommendation for award of contract was made following the completion of an assessment process under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Direct award process C. Please see appendix 1- Part B (exempt information) of this report.

The assessment had been carried out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6