Report of the Director of Capital Programmes

This report provides an update on how social value is being delivered through the Town Hall Project with a focus on the approach and activity undertaken by the management contractor.

The Sub Group considered the report of the Director of Capital Programmes that provided an update on how social value was being delivered through the Town Hall Project with a focus on the approach and activity undertaken by the management contractor.

The main points and themes within the report included: -

·                Providing an update on the project, noting The Our Town Hall project was currently moving towards the latter stages of the design process, with notice to proceed and the start of construction works expected to begin in early 2020;

·                Information on the appointment of the management contract, noting that unique to the Our Town Hall project was that fact that it was explicitly part of the management contractor’s role to maximise the number of opportunities created for Manchester residents and businesses to benefit from the project;

·                Information on the engagement activities with the supply chain;

·                An update on the Council’s oversight of procurement;

·                How social value was driven through the supply chain, noting that all contractors working on the project must provide a named lead person who was responsible for ensuring delivery of social value outcomes for their work package;

·                An update on the social value delivered to date;

·                An update on local spend to date;

·                An update on the delivery of qualifications and professional membership;

·                Information on school, college and higher education engagement;

·                Information on the M Futures programme, noting that this was the flagship higher level apprenticeship scheme for the project and provided a unique opportunity for apprentices to gain broad experience of working in professional roles in construction;

·                Information on the number of work placement, time banking and volunteering opportunities;

·                Activities around equality and diversity;

·                Information on the external evaluation of the social value delivered that had been undertaken by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES); and

·                Next steps.

Some of the key points that arose from the Sub Group’s discussions were: -

·                Had engagement work been undertaken with organisations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the SME Club (Small to Medium Enterprise);

·                What were the outcomes of the Audit assessment of the Lendlease package procurement due diligence process;

·                Further detail was sought regarding the reported 50 new qualifications across the project;

·                The need to target those Manchester residents from the most deprived areas to offer training and employment opportunities;

·                Consideration needed to be given as to how to creatively use volunteering time to deliver projects in the community;

·                Health and safety of staff was an important consideration;

·                Recognising the perceptions of working within the construction industry it was important to encourage females and Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) residents of Manchester to apply for opportunities presented through the delivery of this project;

·                Could Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) be reviewed and amended as the project progressed;

·                What training had been provided to enable work package managers and procurement managers to maximise social value within their area;

·                Further information was requested on how contractors were selected and who had oversight of this process;

·                Of the seven apprentices on the M Futures higher level apprenticeships scheme what percentage of these were BAME and how many were female;

·                Consideration should be given to developing specific KPI’s in regard to BAME and female employees;

·                How confident were officers that Social Value would be achieved and how was this reported and evaluated; and

·                Had the project team engaged with Historic England in the design and delivery of the project.

The Work and Skills Project Manager addressed specific questions raised and informed the Sub Group that they had delivered a number of procurement events that had involved the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses; the Audit inspection had resulted in an opinion of Substantial Assurance and the recommendations made regarding process had been addressed. He further confirmed that the target of 50 apprentices was specific to the higher, level 4 apprenticeships.

The Work and Skills Project Manager further commented that there was a target of 30% of employees who were Manchester residents, however he stated that challenges could be presented due to the unique nature of the project, compared to standard construction projects, but the work was ongoing with Lendlease to deliver this. He further noted the comments regarding targeting the most deprived areas and consideration would be given as to how that data was captured and reported.

The Work and Skills Project Manager stated that the project was working with schools and colleges to promote the project as an opportunity and positive choice for females. He also stated that the M Futures programme was proactively reaching out to schools and Further Education colleges to engage with students, and this activity was supported by a number of female project staff who had acted as ambassadors for women in construction.

The Work and Skills Project Manager advised the Sub Group that they had received 42 applications for the seven higher level apprenticeships scheme, however they had not been appointed as yet so could not provide a breakdown by BAME and gender. He further commented that employers had been asked to put forward diverse interview panels for the upcoming M Futures recruitment.

The Deputy Leader stated that targeted engagement work had been delivered to encourage females to apply for apprenticeships and consider the construction industry as a career option. He said that challenges still existed in relation to this however improvements had been made when compared to the Town Hall Extension project. He said that consideration would be given as to how diversity could be monitored and recorded whilst being mindful of the need to successfully deliver the project. 

In regard to the use of volunteering days, the Work and Skills Project Manager said that this programme was in an early stage, however the intention was to use this to establish relationships with local organisations and develop further opportunities. He advised that due to the specialist craft people that would be working on the Town Hall it presented an opportunity for them to volunteer their skills to work on other historic buildings in the city.

The Project Director acknowledged the comment made by a Member in regard to the importance of Health and Wellbeing for all staff, especially in regard to mental health. In response to the question regarding revising KPIs he said that these would be reviewed and adjusted where appropriate for any new contracts as work packages were procured. He further stated that Lendlease had a full time lead officer with responsibility for Social Value. He described that Lendlease had a good model for delivering this and staff had attended Our Manchester training so that they understood the context in which this project was to be delivered, and this would be cascaded throughout the supply chain.

The Project Director said that a market testing exercise had been undertaken with smaller contractors prior to Lendlease been appointed so that they were assured and encouraged to apply for a contract on a major project and work with a Tier One contractor. He stated that the Executive Procurement Group had oversight of the project, and the Deputy Leader was also kept regularly informed of progress. In addition, the Collaboration Panel met quarterly to monitor performance and review KPIs.

The Project Director stated that he Social Value was embedded in the contracts and that discussions were with CLES to consider the options for recording this using qualitative analysis and sampling.

The Project Director confirmed that the Project Team had worked very closely with Heritage England through the consultation process and they had reported that they were very confident with the design proposals. He stated that a Conservation Officer worked within the team and was fully consulted with and had sign off as the work progressed and this was also supported by rigorous oversight by heritage architects. He further commented that all contractors received a heritage induction session so that they were fully aware of the context and expectations of working on such a unique project. 

The Chair recommended that Members of the Sub Group should meet with representatives of Lendlease and that further details of the work packages should be considered by the Sub Group at an appropriate time and that future reports should include information on how contractors complied with the Unite Construction Charter.

Decision

The Sub Group;

1. Recommend that a detailed report on work packages prior to them being finalised, including case studies and information on Trade Union recognition, be submitted at the next meeting, including representatives from LendLease; and

2. Recommend that the Project Director, in consultation with the Deputy Leader consider how the monitoring and recording of diversity within social value can be reported and if specific KPIs can be established to monitor this activity, to be considered at the next meeting.