Report of the City Treasurer

This report provides an update on the position of the appointment of a Management Contractor for the refurbishment and partial restoration of the Town Hall and Albert Square under the Our Town Hall (OTH) project.

The Committee considered a report of the City Treasurer, which provided Members with an update on the procurement of a Management Contractor for the refurbishment and partial restoration of the Town Hall and Albert Square under the Our Town Hall (OTH) project.

The City Treasurer referred to the main points and themes in the report which included:-

·                The procurement process was formally launched on 13 February 2018 with the issue of the Contract Notice via the Chest, accompanied by the full suite of procurement documents in line with the OJEU regulations;

·                A total of six potential Management Contractors registered and downloaded the documents from the Chest, however only two organisations returned a Selection Questionnaire on 19 March 2018;

·                Following evaluation of the Selection Questionnaires, Laing O’Rourke and Lend Lease were invited to submit Outline Solutions by 10 July 2008. These were evaluated prior to the issue of the Invitation to Continue Dialogue, on 6 August 2018

·                This stage presented the Council with the opportunity to meet the bidders and provide feedback to bidders on their outline solution, and to enable the bidders to test their understanding of the Council’s requirements;

·                At all stages of the dialogue process, the objective was to enable the bidders to develop their best possible solution for the Council;

·                A second week of dialogue meetings was planned for weekcommencing 10 September 2018 and would comprise of a series of detailed meetings and workshops, at which each bidder would present further details on their proposed solutions;

·                It was intended to formally close the dialogue period on 21 September 2018, subject to having reached the point at which the Council was confident that the bidders had developed solutions that met the project requirements; and

·                Final bids would be submitted in October followed by evaluation prior to the selection of the Preferred Bidder. The appointment of the management contractor was is scheduled for late November/early December 2018.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committees discussions were:-

·                It was hoped that the successful appointed contractor would adopt and follow the Councils blacklisting policy;

·                Clarification was sought as to whether the final decision in relation to accepting the evidence of self-cleansing as sufficient (submitted from the two bidders) had been made and if not, could this be considered by the Scrutiny Committee before the decision was taken and by who

·                Could the Committee or the Ethical Procurement Sub Group be provided with the evidence of self-cleansing that had already been submitted by both bidders;

·                Clarification was sought on the difference between refurbishment and partial restoration of the Town Hal;

·                Could officers take account of the Committees previously expressed views in relation to blacklisting and self-cleaning, and ensure with greater vigour that appropriate evidence has been submitted before the appointment of a management contractor is made;

·                A Member proposed that it would be appropriate for the Officer tasked with making the final decision on whether the self-cleansing evidence submitted by the two bidders was considered sufficient addressed a democratically accountable body of the Council to justify the decision before it was made; and

·                Would the successfully appointed contractor be responsible for overseeing the construction works packages and if so would they be expected to adopt the appropriate Council polies and procedures.

The Deputy Leader commented that he acknowledged the concerns raised by Members in relation to self-cleansing and blacklisting and suggested if any Members had evidence that appropriate self-cleansing had not taken place that this should be reported.

It was explained that the parts of the Town Hall that held historic value would be restored back to their original state and in the main this related to the ground floor and level 1 of the Town hall. The higher floors did not hold as much historical value so it was intended that these would be refurbished to bring them into fit and proper use.

Officers confirmed that that there was still opportunities to challenge the evidence of self-cleansing submitted to date from both bidders as no decision taken had been taken as to which of the bidders would be appointed.  An assurance was given to the Committee that appropriate vigour had been and would continue to be applied throughout the remainder of the procurement process. 

The City Treasurer commented that the Town Hall project was the most significant construction project the Council had embarked on and there  were was a number of serious considerations that needed to be taken into account to ensure the appropriate contractor was appointed.  There was heavy importance on social value and ethical considerations but also financial viability and ability to deliver the final outcomes of the project.  There was some pertinent points around the responsibility for the procurement of the packages of work that sat under the management contractor and the policy that was to be followed.in procuring these.  In addition, the City Treasurer advised that final decision to appoint the management contractor would be a key decision taken by the Executive.

The City Solicitor advised that a legal view would need to be formed as to what information could be shared with Members at the current stage of the procurement process.  The City Treasurer also advised that under procurement legislation there was a number of issues that needed to be taken into take account that were evaluated by an officer evaluation panel and it would be this panel that  would submit a recommendation that would form the  key decision for the letting the contract.

Officers advised that the successful bidder would be required to oversee the construction works packages and in doing so would be expected to adopt the appropriate Council polies and procurement procedures.

Decision

The Committee:-

(1)       Notes the report; and

(2)       Agrees that as part of the report to be referred to the Ethical Procurement Sub Group on blacklisting, the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee is given discretion as to the level of detail that is contained within the report in relation to the appointment of the management contractor for the Town Hall, taking into account appropriate commercial considerations.