Councillor Mugglestone submits a report.
Minutes:
Councillor Mugglestone submitted a report seeking Cabinet’s guidance on the way forward for the Performing Arts Centre.
RESOLVED:
(1) that the Council proceed with the construction of the Performing Arts and Convention Centre, finalise the design and move to construction provided that prior to start on site:
a) the construction phase price is within the budget approved for that purpose
b)those sources of grant aid identified in paragraph 3.1.3 of the supporting information report, are secured unconditionally and irrevocably (subject only as to reasonable funder conditions relating to performance, outputs, drawdown, reporting and the like).
c)that all property interests, and consents necessary to the construction Phase, are secured or are materially risk free;
(2) that the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture, in consultation with the Cabinet Link Members for Regeneration and for Cultural Services, be authorised to:
(i) Appoint the main construction contractor and proceed with construction works on site once a guaranteed maximum price is agreed
(ii) Appoint a Contract Administrator
(iii) Extend the current design contract to complete the project
(iv) Appoint a fundraising team;
(3)that, if need be, the Corporate Director of Culture and Regeneration, in consultation with the Cabinet Link Members for Regeneration and for Cultural Services, be authorised to waive the following 2 contract regulations:-
(i) Contract Procedure rule 8.1 (A Director shall normally accept the lowest tender submitted for a contract. Ref. Appendix Two), to enable the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture to accept the tender that offers best value in terms of cost and quality to the Council.
(ii) Contract Procedure rule 10, (All contracts shall include provisions substantially corresponding to the Council’s standard contract terms and conditions. Ref. Appendix Two), to enable the Corporate Director of Regeneration and Culture Services to agree the terms and conditions of the contract that are the most advantageous to the council practically and commercially available within the budget and risk parameters approved by this decision;
(4)that an amount of up to £250,000 be allocated to enable the purchase of up to-date conferencing equipment for the flexible auditoria (paragraph 4.2.3 of the Supporting Information);
(5)that Members of the Cultural Quarter Cabinet Sub Group lead on a structured campaign to raise the profile of the PACC to support the continued work of fundraising for the Cultural Quarter Projects (Section 7 of the Supporting Information);
(6) that the possible sources of funding for covering the capital risk of up to £7million, as detailed in paragraphs 3.15 – 3.18 of the report, be noted and that the views of Finance, Resources and Equal Opportunities Scrutiny Committee be sought on the preferred priorities for covering the capital risk on the capital programme from these sources; and
(7)that under the provisions of Cabinet procedure rule 12 d), no ‘call in’ of the above decisions be allowed on the grounds of urgency, that being the need to move quickly to the contractual design development phase, so as to meet the timetable required by funders.