Agenda and minutes

The Leader welcomed Cllr Michael Rutherford to his first meeting of the Executive as Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management, replacing Cllr Graham Arthur.

Cllr Angela Wilkins declared an interest as an employee of Hestia in relation to minute 310 – Tenancy and Floating Support Services for Homeless People.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting - by 5pm on Wednesday 6^th October 2021. 

Questions specifically relating to reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Thursday 14 October 2021.

No questions had been submitted.

It was noted that minute 296 (Harris Kent House Free School) needed to be amended as the third resolution from the report had been omitted in error.

RESOLVED that, subject to the correction outlined above, the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2021 be confirmed.

Bromley Town ward

In February 2020 the Executive agreed that consideration should be given to the disposal of the former Adventure Kingdom building to the CCG, at market value, so that it could be redeveloped by the CCG for a new Bromley Town Centre Health and Well Being Centre.

As negotiations developed it transpired that it was the CCG’s intention to refurbish the former Adventure Kingdom building rather than re-develop it.  This was considered a poor utilisation of the space and would restrict any ability to widen development scope in the immediate area and therefore diminish any returns for the Council in terms of creating new housing and other facilities.

Officers produced an alternative proposition for the CCG to consider comprising a wider scheme developed by the Council utilising the footprint of the existing Great Hall and Adventure Kingdom buildings at the Civic Centre.  This scheme would provide for a new Health and Well Being Centre together with a new Community Hall and a residential Planning Policy compliant scheme of circa 48 units above.

It was confirmed that, should the CCG withdraw from the project, it could be easily adapted to office use, and officers were confident that there was sufficient demand for new office space in Bromley town centre.

The Growth Fund would be used to fund the professional services required to develop the scheme – these costs would be reimbursed to the fund.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 13 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations, adding a recommendation that a high quality scheme should be developed and proposing that authority to award contracts should not be delegated to senior officers.

RESOLVED that

(1) The new approach to delivering a Health and Well-being Centre at the Civic Offices as part of a wider scheme be noted.

(2) To note the intent to proceed to procurement, and subsequent award of contract, via a compliant route for various professional services to progress the scheme, as set out in paragraph 3.16 of the report.

(3) A high quality scheme be advanced in which the Council can be proud and one that recognises the heritage of the area.

(4) A drawdown be authorised of up to £0.5m from the Growth Fund to fund the professional services required to progress the scheme through the initial stages.

(5) It is noted that a further Executive report will be forthcoming seeking authority to submit a planning application accompanied with a full business case for consideration including procurement of the construction element of the scheme, along with any further authorisation needed to incur additional costs.

(See item 15 – Part 2 appendix)

Report CSD21113

The report provided details of the current Microsoft Office licensing and changes in Microsoft Licensing Polices imposed upon the Council. It also provided details of a refresh of the Microsoft Office Licenses that supported the Council’s core IT infrastructure, all users and key business systems. The report also detailed the significant risks and the required licenses that were needed to ensure that the Council continued to have a supported office productivity suite.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 13 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) The information in the report be noted and the procurement of Microsoft Office License Agreement be agreed, as set out in the report, for three years.

(2) An increase in the IT Services revenue budget of £13k in 2022/23, £79k in 2023/24 and £135k in 2024/25 be approved to ensure the most optimal Microsoft Office productivity and Cyber Security functions are procured and available for the Council.

(3) The use of the current IT service provider, BT, through the mechanism of the Westminster City Council Pan-London ICT Framework, be agreed to procure the services detailed in the report. Where in the opinion of the Director of HR, Customer Services and Public Affairs a separate procurement is required or desirable, delegated authority be granted, in consultation with the Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management Portfolio Holder, to authorise the use of an alternative procurement route.

Report HPR2021/050

The Council currently holds a contract for accommodation based support; 9 units of accommodation and floating support for up to 100 households with Hestia. In January 2020 officers requested permission to extend the contract with Hestia in order to align it with the ending of another support contract which was due to expire in March 2022. That contract was held by Evolve and operated out of accommodation which was owned by the Riverside Housing Group.

The Council had been notified that the accommodation owned by the Riverside Housing Group would no longer be available for use by a third party support provider and therefore the proposal to amalgamate the two services was no longer viable.

The report requested that the Executive agree a temporary extension of six months to the contract with Hestia, extending it to 30^th of September 2022, to enable that service to be reviewed and re-tendered for separately.

The report had been scrutinised by the Renewal, Recreation and Housing PDS Committee on 12 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) An extension to the existing contract period in order for the service to proceed to competitive tender be authorised.

(2) The extension starts on 1^st April 2022 for a period of 6 months, ending on 30^th of September 2022;  the cost of the extension will be £97,550 bringing the total life value of the contract to £1,170,606.

(3) It is noted that Hestia have confirmed that, if approved by Members, they would not require any additional financial uplift for the extension period, and that the Home Group who manage the accommodation utilised by Hestia to provide the accommodation based support have confirmed that they would continue to make their accommodation available to Hestia for the duration of any extension period.

HPR2021/051

The Council currently held a contract for accommodation based support located at Charles Darwin House and Lewis King House in Plaistow Lane, Bromley. The scheme consisted of 41 units of accommodation and 2 emergency rooms which were utilised for those requiring urgent temporary placements pending move on to alternative accommodation.

The buildings were owned by the Riverside Housing Group and the support contract was currently held by Evolve. The current support contract was due to expire on 31^st of March 2022. There were no further options for renewal or extension.

The Riverside Group had put forward a proposal to provide services to Bromley which would see investment going into the existing accommodation provision and enable the Council to retain access to established and vital, local accommodation for homeless households. The report requested that the Executive agree an exemption from competitive tendering in order to enter into a direct agreement with The Riverside Housing Group to secure use of the buildings and support for vulnerable homeless people for a period of 5 years.

The report had been scrutinised by the Renewal, Recreation and Housing PDS Committee on 12 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) An exemption from competitive tendering be authorised for this supported service in order to pursue the full offer of accommodation based support provision being proposed by the Riverside Housing Group.

(2) The contract will start on 1^st April 2022 for a period of 5 years, ending on 31^st March 2027; the estimated contract value is detailed in the part 2 report.

(3) Authority be delegated to the Director of Housing, Planning and Regeneration in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Renewal, Recreation and Housing to award a contract following negotiation/due diligence, subject to final costs being within the estimated amount detailed in the part 2 report.

Cray Valley West ward

The long leasehold owner (Legal & General) of Sevenoaks Way Industrial Estate, Orpington, had approached the Council as Freeholder requesting to regear their lease. The report detailed the proposed terms of the lease regear and sought approval to proceed with the transaction.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 13 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) The lease regear of Sevenoaks Industrial Estate, Orpington, BR5 to the existing long leaseholder (Legal & General) as per the terms detailed within the report (Part 1 and Part 2) be agreed. 

(2) Authority to complete the transaction to be delegated to the Head of Estates & Asset Management, in consultation with the Director of Housing, Planning and Regeneration, with the Council’s associated professional fees to be paid from the proceeds of the transaction.

Bromley Town ward

The long leasehold owner (Direct Line Insurance Services Ltd) of Churchill Court, Westmoreland Road, Bromley, BR1 1DP have approached the Council as freeholder of the property in respect of acquiring the freehold interest. Direct Line intend to base their Headquarters at the site, and to support this, wished to redevelop the existing buildings to provide brand new office accommodation for their business. Acquiring the Freehold interest in the property would enable them the control and security of tenure required to invest in the redevelopment. The report detailed the proposed terms of the freehold purchase and sought approval to proceed with the transaction.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 13 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) The disposal of the Council’s freehold interest in Churchill Court, Westmoreland Road, Bromley, BR1 1DP to Direct Line Insurance Services Ltd, who are the existing occupant and long leaseholder, as per the terms set out in the report (both Parts 1 and 2), be agreed.

(2) Authority be delegated to the Head of Estates & Asset Management in consultation with the Director of Housing, Planning and Regeneration and the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management to finalise the commercial heads of terms (“HOTS”).

(3) The Assistant Director for Legal Services be authorised to enter into any ancillary legal agreements relating thereto (including settling the Council’s associated professional fees, which are to be paid from the net proceeds of sale in the transaction.)

The contract for the Council’s integrated HR & Payroll System, ResourceLink, was scheduled to end in June 2023.  ResourceLink had been in use at the Council since 2002 when it replaced separate HR and Payroll systems. 

In November 2020, the Leader agreed to the procurement of Oracle Cloud ERP for Finance and Procurement functions through a variation to the BT contract. That report advised that a separate report would be taken forward in 2021 regarding our HR/Payroll software. Following an options appraisal, it was now proposed to procure Oracle Cloud ERP system for HR and Payroll functions to ensure the Council had a fit for purpose and fully integrated HR/Payroll system, alongside finance, that would meet the current and future needs of the Council. 

The proposals would further improve the security of the Council’s data – the Leader requested a short briefing note for himself and Councillor Peter Morgan on how records would be protected.

The report had been scrutinised by the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee on 13 October 2021 and the Committee supported the recommendations.

RESOLVED that

(1) The contents of the report be noted.

(2) A variation to the BT contract to include the procurement of Oracle’s Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning system for HR & Payroll functions for a period of five years with the option to extend this for up to a further five years on an annual renewal basis be authorised.

(3) Authority be delegated to the Director of HR, Customer Services & Public Affairs to agree the annual renewal of the Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource System for HR & Payroll functions after year 5 in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contracts Management.

(4) Approval be given to proceed to procurement to appoint a Systems Integrator via a suitable framework at an estimated value of £600k and the subsequent award of that contract be delegated to Chief Officers in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources, Commissioning and Contract Management. 

(5) It is noted that the capital scheme budget will be reduced by £250k to reflect the current projected costs of implementing the system.

There were no additional items referred from the Executive, Resources and Contracts PDS Committee.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters involving exempt information

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2021 were confirmed.

The Executive considered a Part 2 appendix to the Microsoft Office Licenses report.

The Executive considered part 2 details relating to this contract.

Cray Valley West ward

The Executive considered a part 2 report with exempt details about the proposed lease extension.

Bromley Town ward

The Executive considered a part 2 report with exempt details relating to the proposed disposal.

The Executive considered a part 2 report containing exempt details about the proposed contract.