Decisions

In line with Contract Procedure Rule (CPR) 18, the Director of Resources & Housing approved the request to appoint Restore Digital Ltd to the Framework Agreement to Restore Digital Ltd for the provision of Scanning and Document Digitisation Services for a period of four (4) years from 1st February 2021 to 31st January 2025. The total spend allowable under the Framework Agreement is £2 million.

The Chief Officer (Highways and Transportation);

a) noted the detail of the highway works to provide safe pedestrian access to the development site as outlined in section 3 of this report shown on plan 653-02-CE-YY-XX-DR-C-11-0001 attached at Appendix 4 of this report;
b) gave authority to negotiate the terms of and enter into an agreement with the developer under the provisions of Section 278 of the Highways Act 1980; whereby the works associated with the development are carried out by the developer and overseen by the Council with step in rights.
c) gave authority to advertise a notice under the provisions of Section 90c of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 in order to inform the public of the new raised speed table and speed cushions on David Street; and if no valid objections are received, to continue with the works as advertised,
d) authorised the City Solicitor to advertise a Draft Traffic Regulation Order to introduce no waiting at any time restrictions and amend existing parking bays on David Street as shown on drawing 653-02-CE-YY-XX-DR-C-11-0001; and if no valid objections are received, to make, seal and implement the Orders as advertised;
e) gave authority to incur expenditure of £10,000 TRO costs, £6,000 for the loss of a pay & display bay, £1,000 for a 90c notice and £6,000 staff fees to check the design and inspect the works, all of which will be fully funded by a developer through the Section 278 Agreement.

The Director of City Development has approved two grants for the Leeds Business Improvement District (BID) and Otley Business Improvement District to be paid from the Covid-19 Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) Monies.

The Director of Public Health approved in accordance the provisions of Regulation 72 (1b) (i) & (ii) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 a variation to the existing contract held with Humankind Charity for the Community Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Service (YORE-9F7N76), to include existing services for a community Needle Syringe Programme at a cost of £207,000 per annum,(£465,750 for the full duration of the contract) with effect from 1st April 2021.

The Director of Adults and Health:
a) Approved the proposal to commission CVL to undertake development of the OBC, as per detail at 3.6;
b) Approved authority to spend £110,000 against already allocated iBCF grant funding for the purpose of Outline Business Case development;
c) Noted the timescale of 6 months to complete this work; and
d) Noted the Estates Programme Manager as the officer responsible for implementation of this decision.

The Director of City Development has approved the details of Leeds City Council’s approach to the implementation of the Covid-19 Business Support Package for January Lockdown as outlined in the attached document.

The Chief Officer (Highways and Transportation) approved the recommendation to award the Underwater Inspections Contract 2020 to The Concrete & Corrosion Practice Ltd. Structural Investigation Services Ltd. Diving, Survey and Marine Contracting Ltd (DSMC) and Inertia Consulting Ltd. with an estimated annual value of £105,000.00
The initial contract period will be for 12 months with the availability to extend for a further three x one year periods.

This sits under a previous key decision to go out to tender for the value of the contract.

The Chief Officer Communities accepted the grant funding from the Ministry Housing Communities and Local Government to deliver the Community Champions Outbreak Plan Plus Project in Leeds which includes allocating grant funding to third sector organisations and a grant funding pot to community organisations to support this work.

The Chief Officer Civic Enterprise Leeds is recommended gave Authority to spend £276,580 to carry out the demolition of the Hough Top Court. To grub up and remove all underground utilities within the site area and to make good the site to provide a clean site for the proposed housing growth redevelopment project.

The Chief Officer for Economy and Culture has provided approval to award a contract to Tessitura Network Inc for the provision of a Box Office Ticketing Solution for a period of 3 years with options to extend by 3 periods of 24 months (3+2+2+2).

The Director of Resources and Housing approved the write off of irrecoverable Former Tenants Arrears in the sum of £99,997.31 represented by 85 accounts

The Chief Officer, Asset Management and Regeneration has approved a recommendation that (a) the subject property be declared surplus and disposed of on the open market subject to some existing tenancies and (b) the vacant possession strategy proposed be adopted and terms for the surrender of a lease approved.

The Chief Officer Asset Management and Regeneration has approved the purchase of a property on the terms detailed in the confidential appendix for Resources and Housing to return to Council stock.

The Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory has approved the suspension of appointments for birth registrations and notices of marriage/civil partnership with effect from 16th January 2021 for the duration of the current lockdown (to be reviewed 15th February 2021).

The Chief Officer Financial Services approved the request from Channel 4 for rates relief and to offer £178,100 over a three year period from FY 21/22 and the rates relief be released incrementally over 3 years as follows: 25% in FY 2021/22 (£44,525), 35% in 2022/23 (£62,335) and 40% in 2023/24 (£71,240)

The Chief Officer Housing approved the amendment to the Emergency Lettings Policy, including updated emergency lettings criteria and suspending the emergency lettings panel.

The Chief Officer Sustainable Energy and Air Quality gave authority to spend and award a contract to Vital Energi Ltd to undertake secondary system modifications within the plant rooms in the Town Hall, Civic Hall, Central Library & Art Gallery, and City Museum, using the existing NEC3 Phase 1 DHN D&B contract valued at £541k.

The Chief Officer, Highways & Transportation:

i) Noted the contents of the report;

ii) Noted and approved the final layout of the Pudsey – Walking and Cycling Improvement scheme as shown on the attached Drawing No TM/28/319/CON/01;

iii) Gave authority to issue the works to the term contractor and to construct the scheme as shown.

iv) Noted the required expenditure of £554,400, comprising £462,000 works costs, £90,400 staff fees and £2,000 legal fees, all being funded from the Connecting Leeds programme as previously approved by Executive Board and the Combined Authority’s Project Assurance Team.

v) Authorised the City Solicitor to advertise and introduce a Traffic Regulation Order to introduce waiting restrictions and to advertise a notice under the provision of Section 90c of the Highways Act 1980 associated with provision of traffic calming and if no valid objections are received, to make, seal and implement the Traffic Regulation Order and implement the traffic calming as advertised; and

vi) Approved with reference to the powers contained in Section 66(4) of the Highways Act 1980, that the relevant lengths of footway shown on attached Drawing No TM/28/319/CON/01 as proposed cycle tracks are removed and that following the removal of the footways, cycle tracks are constructed under the powers contained under the provisions of section 65(1) of the Highways Act 1980 for shared joint use by pedal cyclists and pedestrians.

The Chief Officer (Highways & Transportation):
i) gave authority to enter a deed of variation of the original funding agreement between the Wes Yorkshire Combined Authority (funder) and Leeds City Council (recipient) for the continued development of the A6110 Outer Ring Road Improvement Scheme; and
ii) gave approval to inject an extra £310,000 taking the total project budget up to £596,000 for the development of the Outline Business Case.

The Director of Resources and Housing:
1. Authorised the required expenditure to enable the programme to progress the property acquisitions detailed in Confidential Appendix A. These acquisitions to be funded from the Council Housing Growth Programme budget, via a combination of Housing Revenue Account (HRA) borrowing and Right to Buy receipts.
2. Noted that Executive Board granted Authority to Spend for the programme on 24th July 2019.
3. Noted that a report is being submitted in parallel to the Director of City Development to request approval to acquire the properties for Housing & Resources so that they can be returned to Council Housing Stock.

The Chief Officer (Highways and Transportation):
a) noted the detail of the highway works as outlined in section 3 of this report and shown on plans ref: 114134-1001-C and 114134-1101-B attached at Appendix 3 of this report;
b) gave authority to negotiate the terms of and enter into an agreement with the developer under the provisions of Section 278 of the Highways Act 1980; whereby the works associated with the development are carried out by the developer and overseen by the Council;
c) authorised the City Solicitor to advertise a Draft Traffic Regulation Order to amend the existing TRO on Stonebridge Lane to accommodate the new development site access and existing access on the opposite side of the road and shown on plan ref: 114134-1010 attached at Appendix 5 of this report; and if no valid objections are received, to make, seal and implement the Orders as advertised; and
d) gave authority to incur expenditure of £10,000 TRO costs and £5,000 staff checking and inspection fees to be fully funded by a developer through a Section 278 Agreement.

The Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory has agreed to cancel all ceremonies between 6th January 2021 until the end of the national lockdown period unless there are exceptional circumstances in line with government recommendations.

The Director of Resources & Housing:

• Agreed to waive CPR 3.1.5 as the proposed procurement approach represents a deviation from the established process of using the YORbuild2 framework.
• Noted that the Head of Council Housing Growth, as per the scheme of delegation, has approved an initial feasibility study of a potential new housing scheme at Healey Croft, Tingley, Leeds and the costs incurred through the feasibility stage for surveys and third party consultancy costs of £155k;
• Noted that Head of Asset Management has approved the allocation of the Healey Croft Site for the use of the council housing growth programme under his delegated authority through the Director of City Development;
• Approved the appointment of Wilmott Dixon Construction Limited via direct call off from the Scape Framework (Major Works) to complete the feasibility and the award of a Pre-Construction Services Design Agreement (PCSDA) at a cost of £282,911 excluding VAT to complete the detailed design development and cost estimating prior to contract award.
• Noted that a further report will follow to seek Director Approval to award an NEC Construction contract for the scheme, subject to a successful outcome to the planning process.