Agenda item

Report of the City Surveyor

The Sub Committee considered a report of the City Surveyor providing an overview of the progress and expenditure of the current Cyclical Works Programmes (CWP 18/19, CWP 19/20, CWP 20/21 and CWP 21/22) at the end of the financial year for 2021/22. The City Surveyor introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to the key points. The Chair commented that there would be several areas, such as variances in terms of spend against specific items and the pace of delivery, that the Sub Committee would want to thoroughly understand as they are on the receiving end of comments from constituents, both businesses and residents about the speed at which things are being executed. However, the usual challenges of the past few years would need to be taken into consideration.

The Sub Committee noted the regular programme underspends and sought assurances that quality and delivery were not unduly sacrificed in order to keep under budget, and whether sufficient funds were kept as a contingency for inflationary risks, both currently and looking forward. Members further noted the risks of not undertaking works, which consequently led to more costly works later down the line, particularly with regards to the Golden Lane Estate.

In response to questions from Members, the City Surveyor advised that the figures in respect of the Golden Lane Estate predominantly arose from the Golden Lane Leisure Centre and Barbican Centre, which were late additions to the programme. The City Surveyor advised that officers always explored ways of doing works that would save money but certainly would not sacrifice quality. There were complications around heritage assets and varying lengths of programmes, but efforts would be made to clear up the historic programme of works. Officers then outlined the situation in respect of the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School and suggested a site visit to assess current issues and the condition of the assets. The Chair noted that even where there was sufficient budget in place there were sometimes concerns over resource and thanked officers for their update.

A Member commented that the format of the chart on construction costs had been helpful and encouraged wider use of this format, adding that due consideration would be required of the significant cost pressures such as inflation over the next few years, as well as appropriate contingency for construction costs. The City Surveyor advised that that CWP bids were formulated from the forward maintenance plans, with an uplift of around 20% applied.

RESOLVED – That the Operational Property and Projects Sub Committee:

1.    Note the progress of current CWP programmes of work;

2.    Approve the carry forward from 2017/18 & 2018/19 budgets of £596k;

3.    Note the reprofiling of 2019/20 programme of £1.88million to be spent in the 2022/23 financial year;

4.    Note the reprofiling of 2020/21 programme of £574k to be spent in the 2022/23 financial year; and

5.    Note the reprofiling of 2021/22 programme of £184k to be spent in the 2022/23 financial year.