Agenda item

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

1) For the Lead Member for Council Housebuilding, Placemaking and Local Economy:

2) To note that this is a Cabinet Member signing in line with CSO’S - under part 4 section J 16.02 apply

3) To approve, pursuant to Contract Standing Order 9.07.1(d) the award of a (RIBA stage 5–6) contract to Bidder 3 for delivery of façade and shopfront improvement works to St Mark’s Methodist Church (SMMC) for the value of £652,115.00 plus a 15% contingency provision of £97,817.25, totalling a maximum of £749,932.25;

4) To approve, as allowed under CSO 9.07.3, the issue of a Letter of Intent pending execution of the formal works contract for £74,993.23, being 10% of the maximum contract value; and

5) To approve, pursuant to Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 17.3 and 9.07.1(c), the Council entering into a Funding and Works Agreement (FWA) with the managing trustees of SMMC (Rev. Stephen Poxon and Mr. Charles Agyemang-Duah) in relation to façade and shopfront improvement works to SMMC. The FWA will enable a grant of £682,014.00 to be given to SMCC, in exchange for which SMCC will contribute £180,000 towards the project costs and grant the Council a licence to deliver the works.

Reasons for decision:

This project forms part of the wider Tottenham High Street Heritage Action Zone (HS HAZ) regeneration scheme, a partnership between Historic England and Haringey Council with the aim of boosting the local economy by investing in Bruce Grove’s heritage assets including shopfronts.

Funding for the HS HAZ programme comes from a £2.012 million grant from Historic England, under the terms of a 2021 Funding Agreement, with £2.598 million of match-funding from Haringey Council, in addition to owner contributions. This Historic England Funding Agreement also stipulated that the programme must close by March 2024. There is thus a great deal of urgency surrounding the need to make a start on site before programme closure, in order to demonstrate the Council’s commitment to spending the grant allocation.

SMMC is identified as a key priority within the HS HAZ Programme Design, which forms part of the Council’s Funding Agreement with Historic England. SMMC has since become one of the flagship schemes of the HS HAZ programme. Page 6

Approximately 15% of the total costs for the SMMC project are to be funded by Historic England, which has stipulated that all grant funding must be spent and certain elements of the project completed by programme closure. If the funding deadline is not met, there is a risk that Historic England grant funding could be withdrawn.

The award of the contract for SMMC façade and shopfront improvement works and entering into a FWA will enable the Council to fulfil its commitments under the Historic England Funding Agreement and to residents and businesses of Tottenham by investing in a locally significant heritage building, while supporting a local community group and five local businesses providing vital services to local residents.

Alternative options considered:

Option 1 – ‘Do nothing’ This option would be for the Council not to award a works contract and not to enter into a FWA with SMMC. If a contractor is not appointed, no works will be carried out. If a FWA is not entered into with SMMC, the Council will not be allowed to instruct the contractor to deliver the works, and therefore no works will be carried out.

This would restrict the Council’s ability to deliver one of the flagship projects within the Tottenham HS HAZ programme of building improvements and provide much-needed investment into the local economy and support for the local community. It would also limit the programme’s ability to invest in a locally significant heritage building at the centre of Tottenham and make good on its promises to the community and businesses housed within the building and support the vital services they provide, in accordance with High-Level Outcomes of the Corporate Delivery Plan.

Option 2 – in-house delivery This option would be to deliver the works contract in house. That would be similar to what was done for the separate public realm works element of the SMMC project which is being delivered by the Council’s Highways term contractor. The in-house option was considered for the façade and shopfront improvement works as well. However, there is currently no resource within the Council that has the necessary experience, qualifications and expertise to deliver the works to the heritage fabric of the building itself.