Agenda item

The Committee considered the summary report from Fichtner Consulting Engineers – Technical Advisors.

The Chief Financial Officer introduced the report and made the following comments:

·         The key risk identified in the report related to the award of the Building Services contract. All the due diligence checks were being carried out on prospective contractors and it was anticipated that the contract would be awarded before Christmas

·         To date there had been net variations to the contract totally £38,192. These variations were a matter between Mercia and HZI

·         A number of red and yellow cards had been issued to staff on site for breaches of health and safety regulations. The Health and Safety Executive had completed an unannounced inspection of the site in September and they had reported that the visit had been successful. In addition, Fichter considered the health and safety practices on site to be good which gave the Council reassurance about the quality of these practices

·         He remained satisfied that the outcome of the technical report met the requirements of this Committee.

In the ensuing debate, the following principal points were raised:

·         Was it possible that the takeover date could be further delayed post 31 March 2017? The Chief Financial Officer advised that he was not aware of any further potential delay to the takeover date. He would be visiting the site in the next few days and if any new issues arose, he would inform members accordingly

·         In response to a query, the Chief Financial Officer undertook to provide members with details on the timing of the civil design work. From a loan perspective, all the issues relating to the civil design work had been addressed in the technical report 

·         In response to a query, the Chief Financial Officer explained that the building services contract had been divided in order to allow the project to continue on its critical path

·         In response to a query, the Chief Financial Officer explained that he personally visited the site on a quarterly basis and met a number of officers on site including the Programme Director and Site Director from Mercia, representatives of the technical advisors and a representative of HZI. On the visit, he would discuss the latest developments on site with officers and walk round the site

·         What activities did Building Services relate to and what control mechanisms were in place? The Chief Financial Officer stated that he relied on the technical advisors for advice on the nature of the work on site but he would provide an explanation for members. From the Committee's point of view, his role was to ensure that the site was met within timescale and that the loan repayments were protected

·         The appointment of a Building Services contractor had taken six months to complete. Was the delay as a result of a shortage of skilled people to undertake the work, a general reluctance to undertake the work, or companies having difficulty responding at short notice? The Chief Financial Officer indicated that neither the technical report nor discussions with officers on site had given an indication that there was a particular difficulty in attracting companies to fulfil the Building Services contract. A number of organisations were on the short list and Mercia had indicated that they were happy with the contractor that it was proposed to be appointed

·         Future technical reports should be amended to take out reference to the site being in Kidderminster. 

RESOLVED that the summary report from Fichtner Consulting Engineers – Technical Advisors be noted.