Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Goddard and Councillor O’Brien.

Apologies were received from Councillor Goddard and Councillor Lavery

The decisions and minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 18 April 2024 were agreed as a correct record.

It was confirmed that the reports, as marked public and private on the agenda, would be considered as such. Two additional urgent items were also tabled to Cabinet, one in public and the other private.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

1.    Note the progress made with primary and secondary school expansions, the school condition programme and other school capital projects.

2.    Agree to delegate all future decisions required to facilitate the projects linked to the School Condition Programme to the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Property, Highways & Transport, with other Cabinet Portfolio holders as appropriate, and in consultation with the Head of Capital Programme Works.

Reasons for decision

The Cabinet Member for Property, Highways and Transport presented a report on the Council’s school building and conditions programme, including the expansion of primary, secondary, and special schools. It was noted that pupil numbers had been changing, with the demand for primary school places, which had been increasing until 2018, now on the decline. This has resulted in excess capacity at many primary schools, reducing the urgency to create more primary places. However, secondary schools were still experiencing some pressures, although it was considered that the current demands would be met. The main area highlighted by the Cabinet Member was the need for special school places, which were anticipated to require significant funding in the upcoming period. The projected total expenditure for this was £43.4 million, compared to the £18.5 million allocated for the wider school condition building program.

The Leader of the Council emphasised the importance of ongoing school condition surveys to prevent future incidents where schools become unusable due to infrastructure issues like leaks or boiler failures.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet:

1)    Note the new pavement licensing provisions from the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023, and as set out in Annex 1.

2)    Authorise new pavement licence fees of £350 for renewals and £500 for new applications.

3)    Authorise Officers to make amendments to the standard licence conditions to reflect the legislative changes required, as in Annex 2, and apply a duration of two years for pavement licences.

4)    Note that when reviewing pavement licence applications officers will ensure that businesses make reasonable provision for non-smokers to use outdoor seating space and that smoking and non-smoking areas are adequately separated.

Reasons for decision

The Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services introduced a report on the new pavement licensing regime under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, which replaced the emergency provisions of the Business and Planning Act 2020, initially introduced to aid hospitality businesses during the COVID pandemic period by allowing them to place furniture outside their premises. The Cabinet Member highlighted that there would be an increase in the fees from the original £100 to £350 for renewals and £500 for new applications, covering a two-year period. The Cabinet Member also outlined the need for the reasonable provision for non-smokers in outdoor seating areas, ensuring that smoking and non-smoking zones were adequately separated.

The Leader of the Council welcomed the clarity provided by the new guidelines, especially regarding the accommodation of non-smokers in outdoor seating arrangements.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None, other than for the Council to not meet its statutory obligations.

Cabinet received a report noting those reports to be considered later in private and Part 2 of the Cabinet agenda.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet approves:

1)    The award of a building works contract to CWG Group Ltd for works outlined in this report at Bourne Primary School, Whitehall Infant School and Whiteheath Infant School at a cost of £1,148,624;

2)    The award of a building works contract to CWG Group Ltd for works outlined in this report at Newnham Infant School and Hayes Park School at a cost of £1,487,810 and;

3)    The capital release request of £3,057,394 from the 2024/25 School Conditions Building Programme budget relating to roofing works at 5 schools, Newnham Infant School, Bourne Primary School, Whitehall Infant School, Whiteheath Infant School and Hayes Park School, and associated costs.

Reasons for decision

As part of the Council’s programme to improve school buildings, Cabinet agreed contracts for roofing works at 5 schools - Newnham Infant School, Bourne Primary School, Whitehall Infant School, Whiteheath Infant School and Hayes Park School.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet:

1.    Approve the variation to the Senlac Associates contract for provision of Veterinary Services at the Imported Food Office (IFO) to change the number of Official Veterinarians from five to eight over the period from 29 April 2024 to 31 March 2026, noting that this will be at an additional cost of £721,402.

2.    Ratify the new fees & charges implemented at the Imported Food office as set out in the report, which were approved by the Leader of the Council under urgency measures, due to DEFRA enacting changes to border controls on EU imports.

Reasons for decision

Cabinet agreed to vary the existing veterinary services contract at the Imported Food Office, Heathrow Airport, to increase the number of official veterinarians to meet the introduction of additional checks on medium-risk animal products from the EU, noting that this would be recovered through new fees and charges from importers, agreed recently by the Leader of the Council.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None, as the Council would fail to meet its statutory obligations.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet:

1)    Approves the Direct Award to Greyline Group Limited for the provision of the Renewal of the Roof, Insulation and Man-safe system, utilising the LHC Lot 8 – Environmental and External Works framework agreement - to aid the de-carbonisation of the Hillingdon Sports & Leisure Centre at a value of £650k.

2)    Agree to the capital release request of £783k from the Carbon Zero Initiatives 2024/25 Programme capital budget for the provision of the Renewal of the Roof, Insulation and Man-Safe System.

Reasons for decision

As part of the Council’s decarbonisation plans, Cabinet agreed a contract to undertake roofing works at the Hillingdon Sports and Leisure Centre to prepare for the installation of PV Solar panels.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet could have requested a full tender exercise for these, but discounted this due to the timescales and financial impact involved.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet:

1)    Approves the Direct Award to European Asbestos Services Ltd. for the provision of the Removal of Asbestos to aid the Civic Centre Transformation Project for a period of 2 years, utilising the Fusion 21 Framework, and at a value of £1,084,898.50.

2)    Approves the Direct Award to Trac Ltd. for the provision of Site Investigation, Sampling and Analytical Surveys working in conjunction with European Asbestos Services Ltd, for the period of 2 years, utilising Fusion 21 Framework, and at a value of £223,110.

3)    Agree to the release request of £1,504k from the Civic Centre Transformation and Enabling Works Programme 2024/25 Capital budget for the Asbestos Removing, Asbestos Surveying and Monitoring to 9 Quadrants, 2 Smoke raisers and Reception area.

Reasons for decision

Cabinet agreed the necessary contracts and capital funding for Asbestos Removal and associated Asbestos Surveying and Monitoring as part of the remaining phases of the Civic Centre Transformation Project.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet could have decided to procure such services alongside project phases, but considered this uneconomic.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet accepts a single tender from Halton Services Limited for the provision to the London Borough of Hillingdon of a block contract of ten short-term nursing care home beds at Parkfield House Nursing Home for a period of three years from June 2024 at a total cost of £2,033,571.

Reasons for decision

Cabinet agreed a contract to continue to secure nursing beds at Parkfield House Nursing Home to support timely discharge from hospital of residents who require short-term support in a care home setting and have nursing needs, noting that this was at no cost to the Council and funded by the NHS.

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet agrees the terms for the surrender and grant of a new lease negotiated by officers as detailed in this report and authorises Legal Services to complete the new lease on these terms.

Reasons for decision

Cabinet agreed the proposed part surrender and grant of a new long-term lease to UK Power Networks of 99 years to ensure suitable power supply for a key Borough facility, Highgrove Pool in Ruislip.  

Alternative options considered and rejected

None.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

1.    Agrees in principle to work with a partner organisation or organisations to expedite the acquisition of up to 200 residential properties for affordable social rented housing within the Housing Revenue Account (HRA), in line with the Council’s agreed policy and budget strategy to acquire 500 additional affordable rented homes over the next three years.

2.    Agrees to the direct appointment of Madison Brook, to undertake a pilot programme to a ‘contract value’ of £607k to acquire 20 residential properties in Borough including full refurbishment of the properties to our lettings standard as required as part of the acquisition plan, for review, evaluation and feedback to Cabinet following the completion of the first 10 property acquisitions, to inform the future delivery options for the remainder of the acquisitions programme.

3.    Delegates authority to the post of the Corporate Director of Place, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Property, Highways and Transport,to agree the purchase price, refurbishment costs and all associated fees and related costs of all properties within the pilot acquisitions programme and to make all necessary decisions in respect of the due diligence work required in support of this, and to make the final decision on the purchase of the accommodation, including the release of capital funds for each property as required, to be reported back to Cabinet.

4.    Releases funds of up to £7,248k capital funding to undertake the 20-property pilot from the Housing Revenue Account Acquisition and Development Budget Unallocated 2024/25, to include all necessary costs for due diligence, legal work the purchase of the properties, fees and cost of any refurbishment work (Appendix A)

5.    Notes that Officers will be seeking from the Greater London Authority and the Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing additional grant funding to support the programme to acquire additional residential properties.

6.    Requests that the Chair of the Residents’ Services Select Committee considers waiving the scrutiny call-in period on these recommendations due to the urgency reasons set out in the report.

Reasons for decision

Cabinet agreed a pilot programme and partner company to work with in order to accelerate the acquisition and refurbishment of housing, in order to both meet the Council’s housing target and importantly to meet social housing need locally. The innovative approach to the expansion of the Council’s housing portfolio was welcomed.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Cabinet considered various options, as set out in the confidential report.

Other than the two urgent matters in these minutes, no further additional items were considered by the Cabinet.

The meeting closed at 19:21pm