Issue - meetings

To seek approval for the appointment of a contractor to carry out the leisure improvement works – phase one.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the contract award for the leisure improvement works at a cost of £321,222.00 to the preferred supplier Northdown Property Services (NPS) Limited, for a period of up to six months with the option to extend for a further six months if required.

2.    Approve the allocation of a revenue budget from the Leisure Investment Reserve to fund the works.

3.    Delegate authority to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture to extend the contract by up to a further six months and make any contract variations to the scope of works should this be required.

Reasons for the decision

The contract with NPS Limited would ensure that the changing rooms were refurbished to a high standard and undertaken in accordance with agreed budgets, thus improving the customer experience across each of the three leisure centres and sports stadium.

A compliant procurement exercise was undertaken to identify a preferred contractor and following expiry of the appropriate standstill period the contract needed to be formally awarded.

Other options considered

The Council could have chosen not to undertake the phase one improvement works; however, this was discounted as the Leisure Investment Reserve has been established with the primary objective of improving the cosmetic appearance of each of the three leisure centres and sports stadium.

Purpose of the report

To seek approval for the appointment of a contractor to carry out phase one of the leisure improvement works.

Note:  Councillor Philip Knowles declared an ‘other registrable interest’ as he was a Director at Leisure:SK Limited. He did not take part in the vote on this item.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the contract award for the leisure improvement works at a cost of £321,222.00 to the preferred supplier Northdown Property Services (NPS) Limited, for a period of up to six months with the option to extend for a further six months if required.

2.    Approve the allocation of a revenue budget from the Leisure Investment Reserve to fund the works.

3.    Delegate authority to the Section 151 Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture to extend the contract by up to a further six months and make any contract variations to the scope of works should this be required.

Other options considered

The Council could have chosen not to undertake the phase one improvement works; however, this was discounted as the Leisure Investment Reserve has been established with the primary objective of improving the cosmetic appearance of each of the three leisure centres and sports stadium.

Reasons for the decision

The Council needed to invest in each of the district’s leisure centres to provide a positive customer experience. Members of the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee (FEOSC) had previously endorsed the spend.

As an underspend was predicted for Phase One of the works, there was a ‘carry forward’ of £162,778 worth of funding to Phase Two of the project.

The contract with NPS Limited would ensure that the changing rooms were refurbished to a high standard and undertaken in accordance with agreed budgets, thus improving the customer experience across each of the three leisure centres and sports stadium.

The delegation to the Deputy Chief Executive was provided, so that the opportunity to carry out further works identified by the contractor when on site could be taken.

Works would be carried out in a timely manner. No work would be started at Grantham Meres Leisure Centre until the swim school had been closed.

A compliant procurement exercise was undertaken to identify a preferred contractor and following expiry of the appropriate standstill period the contract needed to be formally awarded.