The Corporate Director Communities presented a report which:

• Updated Cabinet on progress made and decisions taken in relation to the design, procurement and programme of the Porthcawl Grand Pavilion project and;

• Sought authority to suspend the requirements of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and authorise our cultural services partners AWEN to procure the services of Purcell’s Architect’s via the PAGABO framework to continue the RIBA Stage 4 design services for the project.

The Corporate Director Communities provided some background for on the project and the bid and highlighted the new facilities proposed within the bid. She explained that the current terms of the grant award set out that the project will be completed by Spring of 2025. It is now imperative that the project progresses at pace, that the detailed design stage is completed, planning permission approved, and that the procurement of a professional services team and main contractor is in place to enable works on the building itself to commence in the Spring of 2024.

She provided background to the bid an the facilities proposed within that bid.  On the 20th of January 2023, the Council were informed that the bid was successful and that the Council would be awarded £18m towards the Grand Pavilion Project. In order to ensure that the project incurs no further delays and is delivered in line with the current programme and in line with the terms and conditions of the grant, the sections below set out the governance, consultation and procurement process which has been undertaken or requires to be progressed. Further information on this was set out at section 3 of the report.

Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning & Regeneration welcomed the report and stated that as the Cabinet Member who signed off the Delegated Decision for the suspension of the CPR, he understood the urgency of this work to ensure our to authorise our cultural services partners AWEN to appoint architects Purcell Ltd, that undertook the original designs and RIBA Stage 3 work, to complete the RIBA 4 detailed design work up to a value of £100,000.

He added however, that the CPR’s were in place for good reason, and it was important to reflect on this with our partners to ensure that we mitigate risk to the public purse. Following this point, he asked how much risk this project faces if we agree to suspend the CPR’s.. The Corporate Director Communities highlighted point 3.8 of the report which outlined the risks associated with suspending the CPR’s. She added that financially, we would need to commit around £650,000 at this stage.

The Deputy Leader highlighted that we had £2 Million allocated to this project and asked for reassurance that we were able to use this given the current budget pressures.

The Corporate Director Communities stated that in order to receive the £18 million grant funding from LUF, a condition of the grant was that BCBC provided £10%. This money had been already earmarked in our Capital Programme for this project. If we did not show that we were able to provide this money, the £18million would have been lost. She highlighted that in order to not use the 10%, we were looking into external providers covering that amount, which if successful, could then be released for other projects or services. Further discussions on this item took place and questions were answered by Officers.

RESOLVED: that Cabinet:

• Noted the progress that has been made in connection with the design of the project.

• Noted that appropriate and robust governance will be put in place to support this project.

• Noted the delegated decision (CMM-PRU-23-30) to suspend the Council’s CPRs in relation to allowing our cultural services partners AWEN to procure the services of Purcell’s Architect’s via the PAGABO framework to commence the RIBA Stage 4 design stage for the Grand Pavilion Project in Porthcawl.

• Agreed to further suspend the Council’s CPR’s to allow our cultural partner AWEN to procure the remainder of the design work for the Grand Pavilion Porthcawl with Purcell’s Architects via the PAGABO Framework, to ensure that the design process is completed within the timescales as set out by the LUF funding agreement.

• Delegated authority to the Director of Communities, in consultation with the Chief Officer - Finance, Performance & Change and the Chief Officer - Legal & Regulatory Services, HR & Corporate Policy, to enter into any required agreements to novate the design appointments to inform the procurement of the main works contractor.

• Noted that the Director for Communities is progressing with the appointment of a project Cost Consultant in accordance with the Council’s CPR’s.

• Noted that a future report to both Cabinet and Council will come forward in due course to set out the financial implications of the project, prior to procuring a works contractor for the construction contract for the Grand Pavilion project.