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 Leader 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. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under agenda items 7&10).

There were no items of urgent business.

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 no deputations, petitions or questions.

The Leader noted the timeline and circumstances for the decision being sought which was  as follows:

-      That in October 2022, the Head of Legal and Governance approved the award of contracts to four law firms for them to advise and act for the Council in relation to Housing Disrepair cases. In the event, as one law firm did not respond, contracts were awarded to three law firms, Ashfords LLP, Birketts LLP and TLT LLP. The value of each contract was capped at £124,999.00 (inclusive of disbursements).

-      On 14^th July 2023, owing to the volume of work outsourced and expected to be outsourced, approval was given for the abovementioned contracts to the three law firms to be varied to increase the contract value by £375,000 to a total value of £499,999 (inclusive of disbursements) for each firm.

-      Claims had continued to increase and there is a need to increase the contract values again so that the firms continue to carry out the work and so that the Council is able to pay the fees of the firms for the next year.

-      In September 2023, Cabinet approved the “2023/24 Finance Update Quarter 1 (Period 3) Report” and noted that “net Housing Revenue Account (HRA) forecast is £4.279m lower than the budgeted surplus” (c.f. Recommendation 3.3). In summary, the reasons for the variance were explained in Appendix 2 to the Report as follows - “The Housing Revenue Account at period 3 – Q1 2023/24 reports a forecast adverse variance of £4.279m. The forecast year-end HRA surplus is £3.959m compared to the HRA budgeted surplus of £8.238m. The Q1 full year forecast variance is mainly driven by a high disrepair/compensation cost which are now forecast to be £4.7m representing a variance of £3.6m against the budgeted sum.” This adjustment in the HRA budget was needed to enable the Council to pay the costs associated with Disrepair cases (including the work carried out by Council’s appointed law firms, compensation and the costs of the tenant’s/ lessee’s solicitors). It was also anticipated that there might be sufficient headroom to enable Legal Services to recruit additional staff as set out in paragraphs 4.2, 5.7 and 5.10 to 5.14 of this report. The budget available in 2023/24 for carrying out legal disrepair casework (whether through inhouse or external lawyers) is £2,301,138.

Further to considering the exempt information, the Leader of the Council,

RESOLVED

1.    To approve (in accordance with CSO 10.02.1(b)), the variation or variations of the contracts awarded to Ashfords LLP, Birketts LLP and TLT LLP in October 2022, so as to increase the value of each contract to a sum which cumulatively does not exceed a total of £2.3m for all three firms;

2.    To delegate to the Head of Legal and Governance the decision on how much to award to each firm, in compliance with paragraph 2(a) above;

3.    To note that monies not allocated to the three firms through the variation(s) of the respective contracts,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

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 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.

RESOLVED

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.

As per item 15.

As per item 3.

None