Issue - meetings

1.    That Cabinet approves the procurement strategy proposing the use of the South East Consortium’s suite of public sector frameworks to source works contractors to enable the delivery of projects outlined in Appendix 1.

2.    That Cabinet delegates authority to the Strategic Director for the Economy, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, to approve future amendments to the proposed projects and programmes in Appendix 1 for operational reasons where such amendments can be contained within the overall approved budget envelope and available resources.

3.    That Cabinet notes that any external grant funding secured will be in addition to the estimated budgets identified in Appendix 1.

Councillor Frances Umeh introduced the report requesting to approve a procurement strategy to enable the Council to appoint contractors for a series of major refurbishments on 22 schemes across the borough, including window replacement, structural works and insulation improvements. There was a need to invest in Council’s housing stock and this work would also help progressing with the Council’s ambitions including cutting carbon emissions, improving energy efficiency, tackling fuel poverty, and complying with statutory fire safety regulations.

Councillor Adronie Alford, the Conservative Spokesperson for Housing, pointed out that Chasemore House & Donnelly Court were not getting the same works as most of the other blocks as there was no mention of replacement windows. These two blocks were situated in the middle of the redevelopment of Hartopp & Lannoy and they suffered from a lack of insulation. She hoped that once works commenced they would also get more than cosmetic works.

Councillor Frances Umeh replied that the works listed for the schemes on this report were based on a housing stock condition survey to improve residents  homes and included more than just cosmetic works. These properties had been severely under invested in over many years due to the lack of funding coming from Central Government. She assured that Chasemore House & Donnelly Court would not be overlooked.

AGREED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE CABINET MEMBERS:

1.  That Cabinet approves the procurement strategy proposing the use of the South East Consortium’s suite of public sector frameworks to source works contractors to enable the delivery of projects outlined in Appendix 1.

2.  That Cabinet delegates authority to the Strategic Director for the Economy, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, to approve future amendments to the proposed projects and programmes in Appendix 1 for operational reasons where such amendments can be contained within the overall approved budget envelope and available resources.

3.  That Cabinet notes that any external grant funding secured will be in addition to the estimated budgets identified in Appendix 1.