The Head of Operations – Community Services sought approval to award a contract for interim management arrangements and consultancy support  for  the Corporate Landlord Service within the Communities Directorate; to suspend the relevant parts of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules in respect of the requirement to re-tender the current contracts that have been procured for these services and authorise the Interim Chief Executive to enter into contracts with the existing provider for a further period of eighteen months under revised terms.

He reported that that Peopletoo Limited have been working with the Council over the last 18 months to transform Built Environment services, and help the Council move towards an integrated Corporate Landlord service, achieving measurable improvements of approximately £500k per annum.   Quality improvements have been made across the board, including a noticeable improvement on asset compliance and customer satisfaction.  He stated the Council is able to demonstrate a strong return on investment since Peopletoo were originally commissioned on a consultancy basis through a competitive procurement process.  Additionally, the Council has also separately procured Peopletoo through a competitive procurement process to provide an Interim Manager for the Corporate Landlord service for the last 14 months. 

The Head of Operations – Community Services reported that the Council has attempted on three separate occasions to appoint a permanent replacement for the Interim Manager but has been unable to make an appointment of someone of the right calibre and senior manager leadership skills.  The contract period for the consultancy service from Peopletoo has now ended and the contract for the Interim Management position is also due to have been concluded, but without identifying a viable alternative solution there is a serious risk of leaving the Corporate Landlord service without senior leadership at a time when there remain many financial and operational challenges.  There was therefore a risk that the loss of continuity of senior management support in the Corporate Landlord service may prevent the delivery of further savings identified in the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  The service may even take a step backwards and undo some of the positive change made over the last eighteen months.

The Head of Operations – Community Services reported on a proposal to appoint Peopletoo for up to a further eighteen month period to manage  implementation and take accountability for the delivery of these new initiatives, working closely with existing teams, to secure the financial and performance outcomes required, in addition to taking over direct management for the service area for this period, through the provision of an Interim Manager and any other support required, essentially a fixed term management service solution.  At the end of this period the Council will receive a stable, strong service and have delivered the additional significant savings.  An important part of the new commission would be that a full time permanent Corporate Landlord Manager is appointed before the end of the Peopletoo commission to ensure a smooth transition period.  He stated that the total cost payable to Peopletoo for the proposed new eighteen month contract period would be between £300-350,000, with the Council benefitting from an additional £500,000 per annum revenue savings and additionally will have avoided salary costs of over £100,000.

RESOLVED:            That Cabinet:

•            Agreed to suspend the relevant parts of the Council’s CPRs in respect of the requirement to re-tender the contracts for Interim Management and consultancy support for the Corporate Landlord service;

•            Authorised the Interim Chief Executive to enter into the contract with Peopletoo for a further eighteen month period.