Agenda item

Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

 

The award of a construction contract for the delivery of the Civic Centre project enabling works, which includes the removal of asbestos, redundant building services, and soft strip out of the building. The report will also provide a general update on the project, the milestone programme, budget, and the project delivery plan.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation introduced the report which sought to award a construction contract for the delivery of the Civic Centre project enabling works, which included the removal of asbestos, redundant building services, and soft strip out of the building. The report also provided a general update on the project, the milestone programme, budget, and the project delivery plan.

 

The Cabinet Member explained that the Civic Centre was an important, Listed Building and that the proposals would both improve the building and provide accommodation for approximately 900 council staff. The Cabinet Member noted that the proposals would deliver good value for money, future savings in relation to energy and maintenance, and flexible work spaces.

 

The Cabinet Member responded to questions from the Cabinet:

-       It was noted that it was important for the Civic Centre to be representative of the borough and its values. It was explained that the building would be designed to the highest environmental standards and would take into account new ways of working, including hybrid and locality working.

-       It was commented that the council aimed to provide services in house and it was noted that the project would allow for spaces to be used flexibly in case of insourcing or other changes.

-       In relation to the presence of a bunker on site, it was explained that the Civic Centre was a Listed Building and that all elements would be reflected in the Statement of Significance. It was added that surveys had informed the current designs and that solutions for the building were being considered, such as the location of plant equipment and heating. It was noted that there was also a steering group and that the designs were being co-designed to consider ways to utilise the space.

-       The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Well-Being drew attention to the presence of locality working which was referenced in the report and would be an important part of service delivery in the future.

 

The Cabinet Member responded to questions from Councillor Barnes:

-       In relation to the cost of different options, it was clarified that the earlier report which was presented to Cabinet in November 2021 considered refurbishment of Alexandra House in the short term before the Civic Centre was re-opened and Alexandra House was let. It was noted that the current options provided a like for like comparison as much as possible. It was explained that the business case looked at the same consistent lifespan for both options. It was highlighted that the higher costs for retrofitting an existing building presented additional challenges compared to a new building that could be specifically designed to meet need.

-       It was noted that the car park option was £0 in one of the papers. It was clarified that there was an opportunity to let Alexandra House via option 2, through vacating for council back office use, meant that some income would come from this. It was explained that the options sought to compare like for like options rather than including other factors such as the disposal of a car park area for housing.

 

Following consideration of the exempt information, it was

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    To approve the Business Case attached at Appendix A of the report and agree to proceed with Option 2, namely the restoring, refurbishing of the existing Civic Centre, and its expansion through the addition of an Annex building, through to the outcome of the planning application stage.

 

2.    To note that an allocation in the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) capital programme of £30m for the inclusion of an annex building to the Civic Centre is subject to the approval of Full Council as part of the Council’s budget setting process.

 

3.    In relation to the project enabling works

 

(i)            To approve an award of contract to Decontaminate UK Ltd for the sum of £780,891.18 in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1(d).

 

(ii)          To approve the issue of a letter of intent to Decontaminate UK Ltd, which will be limited to £100,000.

 

Reasons for decision

 

Cabinet took the decision in December 2020 to the repair and refurbishment of the Grade II Civic centre building. Re-establishing the iconic, Grade 2 listed building as the central building for Haringey’s Civic operations. Officers were authorised to carry out further works to develop the design brief for this option, including the addition of an annex. This was progressed and reported to Cabinet in October 2021 where Cabinet approved the commencement of RIBA Stage 2 design work for the Civic Centre refurbishment and the annex extension.

 

The above design work has been completed in parallel with a Council review of its future accommodation needs in accordance with approval given in October 2021. A Business Case (BC) has been produced, in accordance with previous cabinet report approval, which has assessed two options to meet the Council’s accommodation needs for a refurbished Civic Centre; with or without an Annex option.

 

This business case has been produced using the ‘Five Case Model’, which is the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) recommended standard for the preparation of business cases and therefore includes the following:

·         Strategic Case – setting out the context for the Council’s office accommodation, current arrangements, and the case for change

·         Economic Case – appraising the options for office accommodation for Haringey, and the preferred option

·         Commercial Case – indicating the commercial implications of the option

·         Financial Case – indicating how the preferred option could be funded

·         Management Case – outlining the initial plans for delivery to manage the way forward

 

The BC established the need for highly flexible core office accommodation with capacity for up to 900 staff at any one time based on the Council’s Hybrid working model, which will see staff split their working time between some combination of council accommodation, community location and home working.

 

To assess the options available, the BC set out the following Critical Success Factors (CSFs) based on the Council’s key strategic drivers:

·         Ensures that the Civic Centre is restored and brought back into use with enhanced community access

·         Enables the Council’s flexible working ambitions, providing office accommodation that is the right size, whilst increasing the flexibility of office accommodation and creating an environment that prioritises collaboration and staff wellbeing

·         Maximises the quality and efficiency of existing Council office accommodation assets and the opportunities for Council buildings in Wood Green to be released for alternative uses

·         Supports Haringey’s Climate Crises Action Plan and commitment to work towards a zero-carbon estate

·         Affordable to implement and offers public value for money

 

Two options were then assessed against these CSFs:

 

·         ‘Option 1’ – Restoring and refurbishing the existing Civic Centre Building, carry out further improvements to Alex House, consolidating staff accommodation into these two buildings as the Council’s core office locations. 48 Station Road would cease to be used for office accommodation.

 

·         ‘Option 2’ – Restoring, refurbishing and expanding the existing Civic Centre through the addition of an Annex building, consolidating staff accommodation into this single site as the Council’s core office location and ceasing to use Alex House and 48 Station Road for office accommodation purposes.

 

Based on both the qualitative and quantitative assessments of the two options, the recommendation is to proceed with Option 2, namely the refurbishing of the existing Civic Centre, and its expansion through the addition of an Annex building.

 

Having progressed the RIBA Stage 2 design work the project team have been able to confirm that the existing Civic Centre building and the annex extension would provide capacity for up to 900 staff at any one time.

 

The inclusion of the annex extension will allow the Civic Centre to become the primary office accommodation in the Haringey estate, incorporating collaborative and flexible working methods into the design and achieving the required occupancy based on a hybrid working model.

 

The Council is also committed to providing modern, sustainable, and inclusive accommodation to Council staff to ensure health and wellbeing at work is promoted. The two issues are directly correlated as Haringey Council staff will be able to provide far better services to Haringey residents if their working environment is modern, fit for purpose and delivered in a way that will allow other departments and partners to collaborate and innovate to ensure services are always improving.

 

In March 2021 Cabinet formally adopted the Climate Change Action Plan, which targets being a net-zero Council by 2027. As part of Haringey’s Climate Change Action Plan, the Council has a commitment to work towards a zero-carbon estate.  This project forms a key part of achieving that commitment. The proposed Civic Centre refurbishment and the annex extension aims to include ambitious sustainability targets to provide an energy efficient building that helps work towards the Council’s goal of being net-zero by 2027. With the Civic Centre building and annex extension being the primary office accommodation in the Haringey estate, the Council will be making positive strides to achieve the target set out in the Climate Change Action Plan by incorporating passive design measures and sustainable systems.

 

The financial case that supports the decision to proceed with the Civic Centre Annex is based on vacating River Park House (pending a decision on its future), and repurposing Alexandra House, 40 Cumberland Road, and 48 Station Road.  In the short term they will be let commercially to cover costs pending a decision as to the long-term future of these sites.

 

Enabling Works Package (Civic Centre)

 

The enabling works package aims to de-risk the project by removing all the asbestos and redundant building services, thus relieving the pressure to complete the work during the main construction works which are currently programmed to commence in 2023. The works will need to be carried out regardless of the Civic Centre/Annex project to bring the building back to use. In its current state the building is not safe or compliant. Removing the asbestos and redundant building services at this early stage will expose most of the hidden issues to allow the consultant team to find resolution within the scheme design. Asbestos strip out works can often be a lengthy and challenging process and if left to the main construction works it could risk significant delays and cost increases should issues be found.

 

Following a competitive tender process utilising the London Construction Programme’s asbestos lot, completed via the Council’s Dynamic Purchasing System. Six compliant bids were received, evaluated, and moderated. Decontaminate UK Ltd have been identified as the most economically advantageous submission, which has been independently assessed by the project quantity surveyor – John Rowan and Partners Limited. Therefore, Decontaminate UK Ltd have been deemed to provide best value for money.

 

The construction market is currently in a volatile state due to the adverse impacts of Brexit and the Covid pandemic to the supply of labour and materials. The proposed contract with Decontaminate UK Ltd is a workable solution to project delivery, with the estimated construction programme aligning with the wider Civic Centre project delivery plan. Due to the current volatility of the construction industry, failing to approve the current proposal or re-procuring the works could risk increased costs and prolonged lead times, which consequentially could impact the delivery of the main works.

 

This report also recommends that Cabinet approve the immediate issue of a letter of intent to Decontaminate UK Ltd. Agreeing the issue of a letter of intent will allow the contractor to mobilise resources to ensure the targeted on-site commencement date is met. As noted above, the construction industry is currently experiencing delays and reduced supply of labour because of Brexit and the Covid pandemic. The letter of intent would help mitigate these issues.

 

Alternative options considered

 

Accommodation Review

 

The council have considered a range of alternative options, which culminated in the December 2020 decision to proceed with the refurbishment of the Civic Centre, these are in addition to the two options set out above and in the Accommodation Review Business Case, in Appendix A, which is the subject of this report.

 

Enabling Works Contract

 

Cabinet has the option to instruct the asbestos and redundant building services removal as part of the main construction works contract. However, it must be noted that if these works were included in the main construction works the project would be exposed to further risk. Completing the asbestos and redundant building services removal in the main construction works could risk a prolonged programme and cost increases if issues were to be exposed at this stage. Addressing these issues now will help expose many of the hidden issues within the building at an earlier stage, thus, providing sufficient time to address within the design of the refurbished Civic Centre building.