Decisions

To approve the acceptance of the proposed offer of COVID-19 Re-Opening High Streets Safely Fund from MHCLG of £701,850 by signing the agreement so claims can be progressed.

To delegate the approval to make claims from the fund to officers with delegated authority under City Development’s existing Sub delegation scheme.

The Director of City Development has:

a) Noted the contents of the supporting report and the advice contained within it.

b) Approved the acceptance of the proposed offer of COVID-19 Re-Opening High Streets Safely Fund from MHCLG of £701,850 by signing the agreement so claims can be progressed.

c) Delegated the approval to make claims from the fund to officers with delegated authority under City Development’s existing Sub delegation scheme.

d) Agreed, in consultation with the Chair of the Infrastructure, Investment and Inclusive Growth Scrutiny Board that the decision should be exempt from call-in due to the reasons outlined in paragraph 4.5.2 of the report (Special Urgency Provision).

The Council plans to deliver energy efficient improvements to a number of low rise flats in the Holtdale area of Leeds. This project aims to deliver innovative and low carbon improvements to each property within scope to improve the energy efficiency. This decision is to approve the scheme and the procurement route to appoint a contractor, and to authorise project expenditure.

The Director of Resources and Housing:

1.  Authorised spend of £8.87m from the capital programme during the financial year 2021/22 to enable delivery of 190 whole house retrofits non-traditional, solid wall low rise (2 storey) flats in the Holt Park area of the city. 

2.  Approved the proposed procurement of an external contractor for these specialist works via a direct call off from the Better Homes Yorkshire (BHY) framework.

3.  Approved funding arrangements set out in confidential appendix 2

4.  Exempt (funding arrangements) from call in.

Approval is required for an initiative which will distribute £800,000 of the Winter Grant Scheme funding received from Government to low income families and individuals in Leeds.  The principle behind the grant will be to assist with fuel costs during the winter months and the funding will allocated to working-age Council Tax Support recipients.

The Director of Communities & Environment approved the use of the Post Office Payout scheme to provide extra support to working-age Council Tax Support (CTS) recipients in Leeds. The total cost is estimated to be £807,605.

The Director of Communities & Environment agreed to waive call in for this decision, as any delay in implementing the decision will mean a delay in getting support to vulnerable households in Leeds.

The contract with Reed Wellbeing to deliver the One You Leeds healthy living service expires on 31^st March 2021. The decision concerns an extension of the contract, which contains provision for extending for up to 30 months.

The Director of Public Health has:-

• Approved an extension of two years under Contracts Procedure Rules (CPR) 21.1 to the existing contract with Reed Wellbeing for the One You Leeds Service, with effect from 1^st April 2021.
• Agreed to vary the contract value under CPR 21.7 from £1,619,216.00 to £1,457,201 per annum (total value of £2,914,402 for the extension being sought).
• Agreed to vary the contract under CPR 21.7 to amend clause 2.55.1 of the service specification to allow for the provision of e-cigarettes within the range of stop smoking products.

To obtain approval to advertise the draft Traffic Regulation Orders associated with the Corn Exchange scheme, and if no objections are received to make, seal and implement the orders as advertised.

The Chief Officer Highways and Transportation:

a)  Noted the Executive Board approval in June 2017 to progress the Corn Exchange Gateway proposals.

b)  Noted the Executive Board approval on Feb 2020 to progress the Corn Exchange Gateway to detailed design and construction.

c)  Authorised the remaining expenditure needed of £3.1m from the Connecting Leeds Bus Infrastructure Package to carry out detail design and construction of the Corn Exchange Gateway.

d)  Noted that a further report will be submitted to the Council’s Executive Board concerning the Public Realm proposals.

e)  Approved the detailed design as submitted by the Delivery Partner, of the proposed Corn Exchange Gateway project to allow the project to progress into construction.

f)  Gave authority to the Development Partner (WSP in the Technical Assurance Role) and the LPTIP Package Board to approve the resolution to any issues which may emerge subsequent to approval, and in exceptional circumstances. the new solution may need a Highways Board decision if there is no general acceptance or agreement of the solution across LCC departments.

g)  Approved the design and implementation of the proposed draft Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) for the Corn Exchange Gateway (CEG) project to allow for progression of the scheme.

h)  Approved with reference to the powers contained in Section 66(4) of the Highways Act 1980, that the relevant lengths of footway and carriageway shown on drawings (Appendix C) as proposed cycle tracks are removed and that following the removal of the footways and carriageways, cycle tracks are constructed under the powers contained under the provisions of section 65(1) of the Highways Act 1980 for shared joint (or segregated where this is the case) use by pedal cyclists and pedestrians.

i)  Gave authority to give Notice under the provisions of Section 63 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 to remove, establish and amend Hackney Carriage Ranks throughout the scheme area (Appendices C & D).

j)  Requested the City Solicitor to advertise the draft TROs as shown in Appendix D, and if no valid objections are received, to make, seal and implement the Orders as advertised.

k)  Accepted the dedication of land at Asda House and enter into the required deed. The extents of the land to be dedicated are shown in Appendix G.

To approve and publish an interim update to the Statement of Community Involvement.

The interim updated Statement of Community Involvement sets out how the Council will consult and engage on planning matters including Local Development Documents, planning applications and Neighbourhood Plans. This interim version sets out how consultation will occur safely during Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, in line with new Governmental regulations published in 2020.

The Chief Planning Officer has:

a)  Approved the Interim Statement of Community Involvement;

b)  Agreed to publish the Interim Statement of Community Involvement on the Council’s website;

c)  Agreed to exempt the decision from Call-in as a result of the timescales under which the decision must be taken. (See paragraph 4.8 for further details).

To seek Director approval for the proposed funding, purchase of 20x1 bedroom properties and support to enable the Council to provide accommodation under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP) as described in this report.

The Director of Resources and Housing:

a)  Approved the acceptance of the MHCLG grant of £1,000,000 capital and £314,684 revenue funding as a result of the Council’s bid to the Next Steps Accommodation programme.

b)  Approved the necessary injection of the £2,606,000 scheme into HRA Council Housing Growth capital programme (as part of the Right of First Refusals programme) to enable the scheme to be delivered noting the requirement of £1,606,000 capital funding; and

c)  Noted that a further report will follow to request approval as a subsequent significant operational decision to establish the arrangements with a third party to provide the support for people in the properties via a dedicated Housing Navigator Support team (3 x FTE) from 1st April 2021.

The Director of City Development:

a)  Supported in principle the approval for the purchase of 20 x 1 bedroom properties which shall provide self-contained additional accommodation. This is a fully funded scheme.

b)  Noted that property addresses cannot be provided at time of drafting the report and approved each individual property purchase shall be processed as a significant operational decision (using the same process as agreed on the ROFR purchases).

c)  Noted that some valuation and conveyancing services shall be secured using agreed framework arrangements primarily due to other council priority workloads currently being experienced.

Seeking approval to procure up to 2 contractors to support Leeds Building Services (LBS) with responsive repairs to roofing on housing properties, in the east and south areas of the City. The contract will be for an initial 4 years with the option to extend for a further 4 x 12 months periods. The total contract value is expected to be approximately £12,000,000.

The Director of Resources & Housing approved an OJEU restricted competitive procedure to establish a contract of up to 9 contractors, valued at £1,400,000 per annum, starting on 1st July 2021 for a term of 4 years, with the option to extend for 4 x 12 months. The maximum value of the contract if all extensions are used will be up to £11,200,000 over a maximum of eight years.