Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Miles Parkinson OBE, Leader of the Council, seeking approval to waive the Council’s Contracts Procedure Rules to identify and appoint a suitably experienced consultant, who would act as the Council’s Project Director in delivering the Council’s Levelling Up Fund Interventions.

Councillor Parkinson reminded Members that a decision on the Levelling Up Fund bid was still awaited, but it was necessary to put things in place now in order to progress any issues quickly.  Councillor Munsif Dad BEM JP asked how long a traditional recruitment exercise might take.  He highlighted possible negative public perceptions about the waiving of Standing Orders.  Steve Riley, Executive Director Environmental Services, indicated that traditional recruitment might take up to 6 months.  It was necessary to recruit now in order to ‘hit the ground running’.  The Leader reiterated that all of the principal proposals had come from stakeholders using a bottom-up process.  The Council needed to be proactive and could not, therefore, delay recruitment of a Project Director.  David Welsby, Chief Executive, interjected, noting that the volume of projects planned was significant and there were high expectations around delivery.  Many were large scale projects and the timescales for delivery were very tight.  Government announcement dates around bids had been delayed, but the project completion dates had not been pushed back.  The Council was committed to delivery of these schemes.  He indicated that the public could be reassured if this explanation was made clear to them.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

Reasons for Decision

A £20m funding bid into Round 2 of the Levelling Up Fund had been submitted at the end of August 2022 and the Government’s announcement on successful bids was likely to be made before the end of December 2022.

The Levelling Up Fund spending timescales were extremely tight, with funding criteria requiring some capital spending to be made within the financial year 2022/23 and all spending to be completed by 31 March 2025.  Whilst there was a suggestion in the Levelling Up Grant (LUG) guidance that spending might be permitted within the financial year 2025/26, this was only in exceptional circumstances and at the sole discretion of the funding body, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).  It was therefore prudent to continue at risk with some elements of work before any announcement, where not doing so would most likely lead to unacceptable project delays.

It was recognised that the Council did not have the specific knowledge or experienced staff ‘in house’ to manage contractors and professional consultants on the delivery of such high value construction projects.  Many other local authorities were in the same position.  Round 1 funding saw £1.7bn allocated to councils, a large proportion directed into the construction industry and further funding from Round 2 would lead to people with key project management skills becoming even more sought after.

To ensure the Council had the opportunity to secure someone with the necessary skill set to take on this role, three external Project Directors had been identified as having the required skills, knowledge and experience, (two were individual consultants and the third was employed within a large consultancy organisation).  All had a track record of delivering successful large scale, (£20m+) construction related projects and understood the importance of delivering externally funded projects on time and to budget.

Waiving the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules, would mean the Council could undertake the interview/selection process to identify a preferred project director before other Council’s in the NW commenced their search for project management support.  Following the announcement of the Council’s submission being successful, they could commence work quickly afterwards, which would avoid the longer timescales involved in waiting until the announcement was made before undertaking a far longer, formal tendering exercise.

The Council would of course consider which proposal was the most advantageous and where there was any added value to the Council, which should ensure value for money.  In addition, the Council would be comparing three potential providers on cost and quality grounds, which should provide a necessary element of competition.

Alternative Options considered and Reasons for Rejection

One option was to wait until the outcome of the Council’s submission and then undertake an open tender, but it was recommended that this be rejected.  This was because it was important that the search was undertaken quickly as the timescale for delivering all LUF interventions was extremely tight.

Resolved                                    -    ThatCabinet agrees to waive the Contracts Procedure Rules and grants delegated authority to the Executive Director (Environment), following consultation with the Executive Director (Legal and Democratic Services), to agree the terms of the agreement to appoint an external consultant who will act as the Council’s Project Director in delivering the Council’s Levelling Up Fund Interventions as set out in the report.