Issue - meetings

Under Section 100(a)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public may be excluded from the meeting during this item on the grounds that

if they were to be present, exempt information could be disclosed to them as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Act in respect of Appendices One and Two.

Purpose of report

To seek approval to award a contract to the successful tender to undertake significant improvement works to a number of properties on the Earlesfield Estate in Grantham and recommend to Full Council additional revenue budget allocation.

Decision

That Cabinet:

(1)       Approves the award of a contract for the Earlesfield Estate Capital Works Project for £3.288 million to United Living Group.

(2)       Recommends to Full Council a budget allocation of £1.364 million to be funded from the Housing Revenue Account Improvement Reserve in order to deliver the one-off revenue costs associated with the Earlesfield Estate Capital Works Project.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Alternative options considered and rejected included:

-       Not undertaking improvement and asbestos containing material removal works

-       Undertaking works when properties became vacant due to tenancies ending

Reason for decision

The Council had a clear commitment in its Corporate Plan 2020-2023 to provide ‘housing that meets the needs of all residents’ and the timely delivery of improvements to its social housing stock, which included a significant number of properties on the Earlesfield Estate in Grantham, was a key element to this.

The Earlesfield Estate contained 1,014 Council-owned properties, of which 152 were ‘Wimpey No Fines’ design and represented a post-war non-standard construction archetype. In 2021, the Council identified that these property types contained asbestos containing material and although this did not present immediate risk of harm to residents, it was best practice to remove it. It was noted that there were no other properties in the Council’s housing stock of this archetype.

As part of the project initiation process, a range of actions were undertaken as set out in paragraph 1.4 of the report by a small group of Officers set up as a project team. It was noted that the project team had maintained dynamic risk assessments and appropriate mitigations throughout, and the Regulator of Social Housing had been kept fully informed through the monthly meetings with senior officers and was satisfied with the approach taken.

The asbestos surveys showed that this property type required intrusive works to remove the asbestos containing material and that the works would necessitate the removal of ceilings within the properties. It was also noted that several of the affected properties required replacement kitchens and bathrooms and were also scheduled for electrical, heating and door upgrades through the Council’s usual capital works programme.

Considering the potential disruption and scope of works needed to the properties identified over the next few years, it was considered most practical and efficient to package the works into one contract covering all of the works and to temporarily transfer approximately 112 households during the work being undertaken to their homes. In order to facilitate this, ten properties on the estate had been held as void to provide such provision and one flat had been converted into an estate office to ensure tenant engagement was optimised.

Details relating to the procurement process was set out in the report, together with the financial and budgetary implications  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6