Purpose

As a social landlord we are subject to legal
requirements to complete repair works of all kinds and maintain
properties in line with fire legislation. Completion of fire risk
assessments compliance is a measured performance indicator that is
reported annually to government and the regulator.
Regardless of these external factors, the Council has always been
committed to providing good quality, safe, housing and is committed
to tenant and leaseholder safety. Therefore it is important we
complete the require safety risk assessments.
The aggregate amount of these subscription elements is above the
level at which competitive quotations are normally required.
However, E and J Fire have completed other fire safety risk
assessments for the housing stock and a change of provider at this
stage could lead to inconsistency and the use of resources at a
challenging moment. The Risk assessments are done on a cyclical
basis, annually for the sheltered schemes and less frequently in
the general stock. This group of assessments is due in March 2026
and the next ones in November 2026. This gives us the opportunity
to commission a small number of assessments in the short term, to
maintain compliance, and then look to a procurement exercise for
future instructions
Accordingly it is proposed to use exemptions 2.1 (c) and 2.1 (e)
from the Procurement Procedure Rules in order to commission E and J
Fire to complete risk assessments due this month. A further
procurement exercise in the coming months can be conducted in order
to ensure that these assessments are procured as effectively as
possible.

Content

To commission E and J Fire Limited for the
completion of the final tranche of Fire Risk Assessments for TDC's
housing blocks and sheltered units.

Alternative options considered

The proposed short-term commission will
maintain compliance in the short term and a proposed future
procurement will look towards providing a stable position to
transition into future arrangements as well as potentially
facilitating a joint exercise with future partners.