Agenda and draft minutes

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

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).

There was no urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest. 

There were none.

The report sought approval from Cabinet to award a contract for the provision of the Leaseholders’ Building Insurance Service from 1 April 2025 for a period of five years with a break clause at the end of year three and year four.

In relation to how the arrangement would be communicated to leaseholders, there was a well-established process which would be fulfilled. Once the contract was awarded, leaseholders would be provided information on the tender itself. This would include the cover, the policy and any necessary contact details. The information would be clear and transparent.   

The Leader of the Council RESOLVED

1. That, in accordance with Contract Standing Order 9.07.1(d), the Leader of the Council approve the award of the contract for the provision of the Leaseholder Building Insurance Service from 1 April 2025 for a period of five years with a break clause at the end of year three and year four to Insurer 1 (identified in Appendix A).

2. To note that the agreement to the above recommendation is subject to the outcome of S20 notice, a summary of which will be tabled as a late appendix by the 24 March 2025 after the end of the consultation.

Reasons for decision

The current insurance contract commenced on 1 April 2022 and was based on a 3-year agreement, with an option to extend by a further 2 years, expiring on 31 March 2027. However, the current insurer decided not to extend the agreement due to poor claims experience. Thus, it was necessary to ensure that the new contract is in place from 1 April 2025 to avoid any gap in insurance cover for the Council and leaseholders.

Alternative options considered

The Council, as the freeholder of the property it owned, was required to put appropriate insurance arrangements in place. Procurement of stand-alone cover for leaseholder insurance was carried out via Open tender process.

Historically, leaseholder insurance tender was run utilising the Crown Commercial Services framework (Pro 5 Insurance Framework), but this resulted in reduced competition compared to tenders in recent years. As a result, for this tender, the Council decided to use the Open tender process.

Item 8 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public be from the meeting as it 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.

Item 8 was subject to a motion to exclude the press and public be 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.

Exempt information relating to item 6.

The Leader of the Council considered the exempt information.