Issue - decisions

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report of the Executive Director, Place and Economic Growth which sought approval of the appropriate budget to proceed with identified prioritised work within the Property Management Programme.

This report provided a review of a 3-year plan of Backlog Maintenance agreed in 2021.as detailed at appendix A to the report

It was stressed that several schemes previously identified had already been delivered. All schemes had been reviewed and some reprioritised based upon site knowledge of technical officers and risk analysis. Several schemes were currently in progress therefore already committed as proposed delivery for 2022/2023.

A detailed review of known current maintenance and investment schemes had been completed and included a review of outstanding schemes previously captured in a report by the ‘Head of Strategic Assets & Facilities’ from April 2021 along with additional schemes that had been identified in recent months.

A collaborative meeting was held on 6^th May 2022 to collectively review and agree the property management programme based on priority assessment, asset strategy, budget availability and procurement considerations. Technical officers in collaboration with colleagues in finance, procurement, highways, estate management and education had confirmed the specific schemes which were required in either 2022/2023, 2023/2024 or 2024/2025.

The review had included revision to previous budget cost of each scheme to reflect the current scope of works whilst also considering the current commercial procurement market.

It was considered that the current contractor market was volatile resulting in tender return increases. Consequently, budget cost had been reviewed to avoid future budget increases.

Where possible, schemes had been re-prioritised with a view to doing essential works only thus affording further time to realign with wider considerations such as Decarbonisation and Disposal programmes

Specific schemes had been identified as being beyond the realms of maintenance due to scale, complexity, and cost. It was considered that these such schemes are more appropriately addressed in alternative programmes.

Options/Alternatives

Option 1 - Do nothing, which was not considered viable as the schemes identified are considered as priority maintenance works that were required necessary either to maintain the full operational use of the buildings, to mitigate legal risks, are of a health and safety issue, or are considered needed to meet statutory legislation requirements.

Option 2 – To approve the budget and to commission the required works in accordance with the Council's Contract Procedure Rules. This would assist to maintain and facilitate improved functional use of the corporate assets, whilst mitigating relevant operational and health and safety risks.

RESOLVED – That the Cabinet would consider the commercially sensitive information as detailed at Item 16 of the agenda before making a decision.