Purpose

The procurement and
subsequent award of the new asbestos removal and encapsulation
works contract will allow the Council's
Facilities Management team to deliver building services, emergency,
reactive and planned work on the Council's land and property
portfolio. This includes minor capital maintenance works[MN1] [TO2] .
 

 [MN1]Need a Council plan
reference

 [TO2]Added linkage

Decision

The Assistant Director of
Property and Investment has approved the commencement of a
compliant procurement exercise for the provision of asbestos
removal and encapsulation services for planned preventive
maintenance, reactive and emergency works in relation to the
Council's land and property with an estimated maximum contract
value of £720,000, over a period of up to four years.

Reasons for the decision

Wirral Borough Council
has a large portfolio of assets that require planned, reactive and
emergency work in relation to asbestos removal and encapsulation.
Ensuring that the Council has the ability to appoint contractors to
do this work is an essential step to take.
 
Presently the
Facilities Management team provide planned and reactive maintenance
services for the Council's land and property either directly or on
behalf of the Council's service areas. In addition, the Council is
implementing a Corporate Landlord Model, whereby ultimately this
team will be responsible for the maintenance of Council owned land
and buildings in the future, excepting schools, which have
differing management arrangements. The Council's property portfolio
is comprised of a mixture of operational and non-operational
assets, ranging from offices and publicly accessed venues,
commercial and retail properties, assets held for regeneration and
schools.
 
The Council has a
statutory duty to ensure that its assets comply with relevant
Health and Safety legislation and Regulations. Not having a
solution in place to deal with this type of work would negatively
impact the Council's ability to comply with its obligations.
 

Alternative options considered

There is not a
do-nothing option. The Council needs to have a contract in place
for the reasons set out in this report.
 
The Council could look
to let individual pieces of work on a case-by-case basis. This
would present a significant challenge to administer, significantly
increase the cost of administration and would not be satisfactory
for certain works, for example emergency call out. Not
commissioning would generate significant challenges to the
Facilities Management team, impacting their operational
effectiveness, in provision of works and would have significant
implications for the operation of the Council's property portfolio,
which may lead to asset non availability or Health and Safety
implications.
 
The Council could opt
to seek a contractor by way of open tender. This would be very
difficult, and time consuming to deliver and would require
additional resource to implement. An open tender does have the
advantage that local contractors who are not on frameworks may find
it easier to bid, although the volume of work needed to be
delivered by bidders may also discourage bids.
 
Using a framework
would reduce the burden of administering letting the contract. Most
frameworks in this sector are closed frameworks, which would mean
that new providers are prevented from accessing the framework and
bidding on the contract.  This can be
detrimental to businesses that are not already selected for
frameworks. Local contractors are often not on established
frameworks.
 
The Council could
explore other options, for example outsourcing models, however
there is a requirement for a contract to be in place now to enable
delivery of works and any development of a proposal for outsourcing
would need to be properly developed, so the best outcome for the
Council could be achieved and the contract mobilised.