Agenda and draft minutes

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To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

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 &9).

There  were no items of urgent business.

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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 deputations, petitions or questions.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing considered the attached key decision report which requested approval to award a contract to Kind Diamond Consortium (KDC) to undertake refurbishment works at Canning Crescent Health Centre. The report also sought approval of the issuance of a letter of intent and to increase the project budget from £4,259,000 to £5,918,805.

In considering this decision, and noting the previous significant delays with this project, the Cabinet Member sought clarification on the increased cost and assurance that this construction cost and proposed provider had been robustly explored and met Council value for money principles.

In response it was noted that the cost received from Kind Diamond Consortium (KDC) was above the tender return but there was a need to account for the inflationary up build from the previous calculated cost. Assurance was further provided that this tender submission was based on the BCIS( The Building Cost Information Service )calculations and this percentage increase was still less than the RICS( rate).

The Council had also commissioned an independent Quantity Surveyor that had completed a thorough review of the tender submission and found that the tender return provided value for money for the Council.

With regards to the financial stability of Kind Diamond Consortium (KDC), the Head of Procurement had completed a full financial analysis and financial study of the company and had reported no concerns. Kind Diamond Consortium (KDC) were also part of the Major Works framework of contractors appointed by the Council since 2019.

The Cabinet Member recognised the pressure in the construction industry that had led to delays in this crucial local project to provide an improved Adult Mental Health Service facility. In addition, it was noted that, from a service delivery perspective , there was only a short delay from the expected opening of the Health Centre from late 2024 to now Jan 2025.

Further to considering the exempt information and agreeing the exempt recommendations, The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing ,

RESOLVED

1.    That pursuant to contract standing order 7.01(b), 16.02 (urgent decision allocated to Cabinet Member) and 9.07.1d to approve an award of contract to Kind Diamond Consortium to undertake the refurbishment works at Canning Crescent (2c) based on their tender price of £1,731,390.

2.    To approve a client contingency as set out in Part B of this report which will be strictly managed under change control governance arrangements. This is in addition to the award value noted in 3.1. Refer to Part B section 3 for the contingency value and total award value.

3.    To approve the issuance of a Letter of Intent up to the value of £173,139 pursuant to CSP 9.07.3.

Reasons for decision

There were significant delays in the work (Phase 1) being completed by the original contractor Cosmur Construction (London) Ltd (Cosmur) with a contract completion date of 18th March 2022 the project was 12 months in delay at the time of their withdrawal from site and subsequently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

As per item 3.

None

Item 9 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and

public be from the meeting as they contains 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.

There was a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as the following  items contain edexempt 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 for Health Social Care and Wellbeing considered the exempt information and approved the exempt recommendations.

As per item 3.

None