Issue - meetings

Report of the Executive Director (Place)

Further to Minute No. 98 of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 7 December 2023, the Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director (Place) setting out the results of the procurement process conducted during the period December 2023 to February 2024 to appoint a contractor for works on Phase 1 of the Strand Transformation Programme. The report recommended that the contractor identified as providing the Most Economically Advantageous Tender should now be appointed and that the Executive Director of Place be delegated the authority, in consultation with the Portfolio Cabinet Members, to sign the contracts when they were complete. The report followed a report approved by Cabinet in December 2023, which set out the case for proceeding with delivery of Phase 1 of the planned Bootle Strand Transformation Programme and the new five-year Business Plan for the fiscal years 2023/24 to 2027/28 for the Strand Shopping Centre, reflecting the impacts on operations of proceeding with the programme works. The report approved in December 2023 included the recommendation that the Executive Director - Place be delegated authority, in consultation with Portfolio Cabinet Members, to proceed with the procurement. That procurement had now been completed under the supervision of the Council’s Procurement and Legal Services and with the support of the Programme’s appointed Project and Cost Managers, the Development Manager and the specialist construction legal advisers retained to provide legal advice to the Council in relation to all aspects of the Programme.

Decisions Made:

That

(1)      the appointment of Vinci Construction UK Limited as contractor for the Strand Transformation Programme Phase 1 demolition works and a Pre-construction Services Agreement to develop detailed requirements for the remainder of the approved Phase 1 works, be approved; and

(2)      the Executive Director for Place, in consultation with the Portfolio Cabinet Members, be authorised to sign the contracts.

Reasons for the Decisions:

The procurement had been carried out in full compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations and the Council’s financial procedures and provided a clear and evidenced result in favour of Vinci as the Most Economically Advantageous Tender. The timely appointment of the contractor, and commencement of the works, was critical to realising the objectives and outcomes of Phase 1 of the Strand Transformation Programme, which were approved by the Cabinet in December 2023.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Not proceeding with Phase 1 of the Transformation Programme had been considered but discounted as the deterioration to the financial sustainability of the Strand would continue unchecked, which would inevitably lead to it no longer being viable. This would also fail to realise any of the regeneration objectives the Programme was designed to provide as well as require the return of the £20m grant funding award that the Council has secured from central government for Phase 1 of the Programme.