Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director, Community and Children’s Services.

The committee received a report of the Executive Director of Community and Children's Services.

The committee discussed the involvement of residents in the procurement of estate contracts, with officers apologising that residents had not been involved in the procurement under consideration. It was clarified that resident involvement in procurement exercises was valued by the City of London Corporation, had been useful to previous procurement exercises, and that it would continue to be sought in future. Involvement in procurement exercises for services paid for by Barbican Estate residents was welcomed by the committee.

The committee welcomed the news that the proposed contract included works not covered in previous contracts and discussed the structuring of charges across the blocks in the estate. It was clarified by officers that this was due to different blocks having different requirements for window cleaning.

The committee noted that the specification for the contractor included a requirement to report repair and maintenance issues identified when cleaning and discussed the importance of contract management in ensuring the works were completed to a suitable standard. It was confirmed that the cleaning method for the different classes of buildings would be reviewed and discussed with the contractor as part of the new specification.

The committee discussed the possibility of tendering contracts by lot to allow multiple suppliers to provide bespoke services.

The committee noted the recommendations which would be put to the Barbican Residential Committee.