Agenda and draft minutes

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The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were none.  

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under agenda item 7).

There was none. 

There were no declarations of interest. 

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B,  paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were none.

This report sought approval from the Cabinet member to award a contract for The Planned Preventative Maintenance, Responsive Repairs and L8:2013 Compliance for Water Storage and Distribution Systems to Tenderer A for the initial duration of five years, with the option to extend for 1 + 1 years, totalling a value of £3,150,000 subject to Cabinet member approval.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

That the Cabinet Member for Housing Services, Private Renters and Planning approves the award of contract for The Planned Preventative Maintenance, Responsive Repairs and L8:2013 Compliance for Water Storage and Distribution Systems to Tenderer A for the initial duration of five years, with the option to extend for 1 + 1 years, at the value of approximately £450,000 per year, totalling a value of £3,150,000 with a proposed start date of 1st May 2024.

Reasons for decision

This contract will enable the council to deliver the Maintenance and Repairs of water storage systems including communal cold water storage tanks and communal water taps which includes planned preventative maintenance, repairs, and installations. This includes completing urgent and high-risk actions, relating to water supply and legionella risk to council residents, ensuring compliance with HSE Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) L8 & HSG274.

The responsive provision would ensure that equipment failure which could put residents at risk or loss of water will be responded to urgently and within required timescales. The work also allows for communal cold-water tank and associated pipework replacement or repairs.

The planned works would include testing and prevention of legionella contamination.

This is a call-off contract, in that there was no monthly or annual fee, and the contractor would only receive payment for works completed on instruction.

Alternative options considered

Do Nothing – This was not an option as it would increase the risks of loss of water supply to residents’ properties, or risk of water contamination. The contamination of legionella could be dangerous or life threatening to residents if not controlled and prevented.

Carry out the work through in-house resources - the Council was unable to deliver these works in-house due to a lack of suitably trained and certified operatives. The Council did not have enough operatives and the timescales required to recruit and train them would result in the same outcome as set in 5.1 above.

Use our existing contracts or contractors - The only suitable contractors currently delivering this service under contract expired in April 2024. The Council was unable to extend this contract further as all extensions have been utilised. The Council also needed to ensure that our contracts provided value for money and reflect up to date regulatory requirements and current good practice.

Item 8 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public be from the meeting as itcontains exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 3 and 5, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

Item 8 was subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as it contained exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paras 3 and 5, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

The Cabinet Member considered the exempt information.