Agenda and minutes

Councillor David Mellen  -  work commitments

Councillor Toby Neal  -  other Council business

Councillor Jane Urquhart  -  work commitments

Councillor Alan Clark declared an interest in item 5 as he is a school governor at one of the schools mentioned in the report.  This did not preclude him from speaking or voting on this item.

Councillor Sam Webster declared an interest in Item 6 as he is a Board Member of Nottingham City Homes.  This did not preclude him from speaking or voting on this item.

Last meeting held on 18 April 2017 (for confirmation)

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 April were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Report of Portfolio Holder for Business, Growth and Transport.

The Leader introduced a report on the renewal and tendering of a number of highway and electrical service and supply framework contracts.

The delivery of these works is a key part of the City Council’s Commercialism strategy and the in-sourcing of delivery works where it is economically advantageous to do so.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  approve the procurement of replacement Framework Agreements in line with Public Procurement Regulation 2015;

(2)  delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Commercial and Operations to approve the award of the Framework Agreements in line with the criteria set out within the tender documentation;

(3)  delegate authority to the Director of Energy, Waste and Highways to call off contracts under the Highways Framework Agreement up to the value of £999,999.

Reasons for decisions

The Authority adopts a mixed approach to the delivery of highway work which utilises the Council’s own skilled workforce and fully supports the City Council’s ambitious commercialisation agenda.

Releasing the frameworks in this manner will result in the following advantages;

· A value-for-money delivery model with no fixed financial commitment to use the framework.

· Opportunities for local Small Businesses to tender for the work.

· The potential for a local workforce through indirect supply chain employment

The delivery model has number of additional benefits including:

 · Strong links to our corporate value and objectives

· A highly flexible and responsive structure to accommodate short term changes to design programmes.

Other options considered

Not renewing the Network of Highway Frameworks – this would have meant no authorised procurement in place for the provision of goods/services and as such would not be compliant with Nottingham City Council’s Financial Regulations and Public Procurement Regulation 2015.

Report of Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills

The Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills introduced a report on school capital maintenance grant allocations for 2017/18.

An amount of £1.474 million has been allocated to improve the condition of school buildings maintained by Nottingham City Council. The fund has been reduced due to there being fewer maintained schools than previously. 

RESOLVED to:

(1)  accept the allocation by the Department for Education to Nottingham City Council of the School Capital Maintenance funding, totalling £1.474 million to the schemes as set out in Appendix A of the report, noting that £0.174 million is set aside as a contingency fund;

(2)  approve the funding allocations to schemes as set out in Appendix A of the report, noting that £0.244 million is set aside as a contingency fund;

(3)  amend the Capital Programme to include the additional £1.474 million received as part of the grant;

(4)  delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Children and Adults to allocate contingency funding to projects as health and safety or condition issues arise during 2017/18 and to adjust the funding allocation for each scheme once cost information is finalised, subject to value for money being demonstrated and costs being within the overall budget allocated for this programme of works;

(5)  appoint Nottingham City Council Design Services to design, procure and manage the schemes;

(6)  approve the procurement of the works through the East Midlands Property Alliance (EMPA) framework – an OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union) compliant framework;

(7)  delegate authority to the Head of Legal Services to sign contracts with the preferred contractors following procurement exercises to allow schemes to be delivered.

Reasons for decisions

The prioritisation of the funding is based on advice received and an extensive review of schools. There are two areas where funding has been prioritised:

- Health and Safety issues likely to impact on children and staff.

- Condition issues likely to impact on the operation of the school.

The balance of the funding for the School Condition grant has been identified as part of the prioritisation process and £0.244 million will be held as a contingency amount to deal with urgent health and safety or condition issues that arise during the financial year 2017/18. Delegating authority to the Corporate Director for Children and Adults to approve these schemes enables a swift response to urgent issues as they arise.

Other options considered

Consideration was given to combine the Condition funding and the Basic Need funding. If combined this funding could be used to address the shortfall in school places across the city.

Consideration was also given to amalgamating the Condition grant with broader City Council capital funding.

Both of these options were rejected as they would leave schools at risk of closure through health and safety or condition issues. It would also mean that school buildings would continue to deteriorate, increasing the risk of forced closure for emergency repairs.

Report of Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing

In the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage, the Portfolio Holder for Energy and Sustainability introduced the report on the redevelopment of Knights Close.

The report proposes the decommissioning, demolition and redevelopment of Knights Close, supporting the Council Plan pledge to build 2500 new homes that Nottingham residents can afford to rent or buy.

There has been widespread consultation, and the affected tenants in the area were the first to be told.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  approve the budget for the project as detailed in the exempt appendix and the outline scheme proposals;

(2)  approve the decommissioning and rehousing process for tenants, noting that the funding for homeloss payments and security of the building is to come from the Housing Revenue Account;

(3)  approve the process for obtaining vacant possession of the two occupied Housing Revenue Account commercial units, noting that the funding for any payments required will come from the Housing Revenue Account;

(4)  approve Nottingham City Homes (NCH) to appoint a contractor to demolish the site and redevelop it on the Council’s behalf, subject to tenders being returned within the financial envelope outlined;

(5)  delegate authority to the Director of Strategic Assets and Property to agree terms with the affected business tenants.

Reasons for decisions

The redevelopment of Knights Close will provide high quality housing and associated infrastructure, together with a local convenience store.  The new community will actively regenerate the neighbourhood.

Approval has allowed the contractor to be appointed, and the indicative architectural drawings to be further developed for submission to planning.  The development will create a better connected and safer neighbourhood by improving the quality of the built environment.

The Council has accumulated an increasing amount of Right to Buy Replacement Receipts which can be used to meet up to 30% of the cost of developing new Council housing. If this funding is not spent within a certain period it will have to be repaid with interest. This development will be eligible for this funding for all units that are additional to the replacements for the existing units.

Other options considered

The option of converting the shop units into flats was considered feasible and would have been eligible for Right To Buy Replacement Receipts funding but was rejected as insufficiently transformational, since the retention of the existing structure would prolong the life of the block but leave the surrounding environment largely unchanged.

The option of converting the shop units into workshops was considered. Although this would have the potential to generate employment, it was rejected as being financially unviable: the cost of development would be much higher than the potential income and it would be unlikely to attract external funding. In addition, it would do little to improve the local environment and could even reduce the quality of life of the residents living above.

Potential new development sites are reviewed strategically between Regeneration, Property, Urban Design, Planning and Nottingham City Homes. This site was selected above others as this project will regenerate the area, the buildings were nearing the end of their economic life and had high void levels, and the large site area allows for a significant net gain of units for family housing.

Next meeting, Thursday 1 June at 1:30pm.

All other meetings are Tuesdays at 1:30pm:

2017

20 June

18 July

19 September

17 October

21 November

19 December

2018

16 January

20 February

20 March

17 April

RESOLVED to meet on the following Tuesdays (unless specified otherwise) at 2pm in 2017/18):

2017

Thursday 1 June (1:30pm)

20 June

18 July

19 September

17 October

21 November

19 December

2018

16 January

20 February

20 March

17 April

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item(s) in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs in the public interest in disclosing the information

RESOLVED to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item(s) in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs in the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Board considered the exempt appendix to the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Heritage’s report.

RESOLVED to note the information contained within the exempt appendix.

Reasons for decision

As detailed in minute 6.

Other options considered

As detailed in minute 6.