Agenda and draft minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

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.

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).

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct

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 for Council Housebuilding, Placemaking, and Local Economy to terminate existing Construction Contracts with Contractor A for Sites 1,2 and 3 and simultaneously enter in to an alternative Construction Management Agreements for Sites 1,2 and 3 with Contractor A and direct Contracts with sub – contractors.

The Cabinet Member stated that the new arrangements were useful and enabled a direct relationship with subcontractors.

The Cabinet Member for Council House Building, Placemaking and Local Economy RESOLVED

1. To grant approval of the mutual termination of Construction Contracts between the Council and Contractor A at Sites 1,2 and 3.

2. To grant approval for a Contract for Construction Management between the Contractor A for Sites 1, 2 and 3 at a fee of 4% of the outstanding costs to complete fixed at the date of entry in to the Construction Management Contract with no mechanism for uplift.

3. To grant approval for direct award Contracts between the Council and nominated sub contractors for the Sites 1,2 and 3 and delegate to the Director of Placemaking and Housing authority to award individual sub contracts subject to approval from the Head of Procurement to each of those direct awards and approval from the Head of Legal and Head of Finance ( Housing ) to the terms of those direct awards.

4.    To approve to delegate to the Assistant Director of Housing authority to sign off any instructions that may be required to be discharged from the contingencies being sought for approval in the report.

Reason for Decision

To ensure that the Council’s Housing Delivery Programme continued to provide high quality Council Housing at affordable rents, constructed to a good standard and made available to new Tenants as soon as possible in accordance with the Council’s overriding Policy objective of providing 3,000 new Council Homes by 2032.

Alternative options considered

Following discussions with Contractor A, which accorded with the Mediation

Provisions of the JCT ( Joint Contracts Tribunal ), the Council have considered a

number of mitigations which include:

a.    Increased spend on Sites 1, 2 and 3 without additional Contractual variations, or, financial checks – This mitigation would not satisfactorily protect the Council’s financial position.

b.    Terminated contracts on Sites 1, 2 and 3 either by mutual consent, or, by virtue of Contractor A having to enter insolvency – This mitigation would require the Council to reprocure all of those Works at costs that would be disproportionately high.

It is considered that neither of the alternatives listed above would meet the Council’s value for money requirements and would result in an unacceptable delay to the completion of much needed Council Housing in the Borough.

There were none.

Item 9 is likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraph 3, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

Item 9 was likely to be subject to a motion to exclude the press and public from the meeting as they contain exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraph 3, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

The Cabinet Member considered the exempt information.