Decisions

Decision taken so the Council will continue to meet its legislative duties under the SEND Code of Practice 2015.

The Council has approved the use of the extension clause in the statutory SEND Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) contract for 12 months until 31st of March 2023 at a cost of £140,000. Decision note’s the ongoing progress towards a full recommissioning of the service.

•This decision follows from the Cabinet decision taken on 1st September 2020 (ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk Item 16), which approved the extension of the existing grant funding arrangement with Voscur to 31st March 2022; approved inviting suitable applicants to apply for Enabling the VCSE grant funding from 1st April 2022 and authorised the Chief Executive in consultation with the Cabinet Member -Communities to take all steps required to enter into a grant agreement with the successful applicants.
•Bristol City Council has a long history of supporting its voluntary and community organisations through grant funding infrastructure support to enable them to function well and thrive. The Enabling the VCSE Grant is the latest iteration of this support.
•It was originally intended to run 1st October 2020-30th Sept 2024, having been approved by Cabinet in December 2019. This timetable was not able to be delivered due to the Covid-19 emergency.
•The Grant commissioning exercise was re-started 7th June 2021 with a closing date of 4th October 2021. This Grant was approved to run for four years, from 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2026, a total grant of £1,266,432 (£316,608 per year)
•The grant approach set out 5 Priorities the council wanted to support, underpinned by 5 community-building principles. These emphasised Equity, Asset-based and Place-base approaches and strong delivery to groups in neighbourhoods experiencing the greatest inequality and to equalities-led groups. The approach also emphasised that proposals needed to demonstrate how they would deliver long-term capacity building, sustainability and enable the sector to be effective leaders in the city through strategic and operational collaboration with other organisations supporting.

a) To approve £1,266,432 Enabling the VCSE Grant to Voscur and Black South West Network to provide infrastructure support Bristol’s community and voluntary groups, and to deliver work to respond to the recommendations of the research report Designing a New Social Reality (February 2021) and implement the VCSE Strategic Action Plan from 1st April 2022 to the 31st March 2026.
b) To distribute the available funding to both organisations as follows:
•Voscur: £236,608 per year 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2026
•Black South West Network: £80,000 per year 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2026

There is a clear and pressing need to maintain compliant contracts for heat and power to supply council buildings, housing, and schools
Failure to make arrangements before the current contract expires on 31/12/21 would mean the council pays off-contract rates until a new contract is in place. These rates are up to 100% more expensive

•The decision is to re-tender the electricity contract set out below to 31/3/22.
•An Officer Executive Decision was taken in October 2021 to extend the contracts for 3 months.
•Energy contract renewals are ordinarily made under delegated authority following a December 2020 Cabinet Key Decision but cannot be accomplished within the estimated budget due to the current very high prices. Wholesale energy prices are currently at unprecedented levels which are placing significant pressure on council budgets
•The contract must be re-let by 31/12/21 to avoid defaulting to off-contract prices however due to the way that the energy market is structured, a decision is needed by the xx December. As this decision is not within the delegated Authority of the Executive Director, and as a key decision is needed before the date of the next Cabinet meeting in January there is a clear and pressing need for the decision to be taken by the Executive director as a key decision in line with the provisions of the constitution.
•The contract is for three months (ending 31/3/22) as alternative procurement strategies are currently being developed.
•Legal and Procurement services have confirmed it will not be possible to have new electricity contractual arrangement in place by 31/12/21.
•A strategy of three-month rolling extensions or re-tenders has been agreed at the Corporate Leadership Board meeting on 21/12/21, to avoid locking in prices at high levels for any longer than necessary.

There is a clear and pressing need to maintain compliant contracts for heat and power to supply council buildings, housing, and schools
Failure to make arrangements before the current contract expires on 31/12/21 would mean the council pays off-contract rates until new contracts are in place. These rates are up to 100% more expensive

•The decision is to extend the electricity contract set out below to 31/3/22.
•An Officer Executive Decision was taken in October 2021 to extend the contracts for 3 months (except DN508623 which hadn’t expired at that time), and this decision seeks a further extension.
•Energy contract renewals are ordinarily made under delegated authority following a December 2020 Cabinet Key Decision but cannot be accomplished within the estimated budget due to the current very high prices. Wholesale energy prices are currently at unprecedented levels which are placing significant pressure on council budgets
•The contract must be extended by 31/12/21 to avoid defaulting to off-contract prices however due to the way that the energy market is structured, a decision is needed by the xx December. As this decision is not within the delegated Authority of the Executive Director, and as a key decision is needed before the date of the next Cabinet meeting in January there is a clear and pressing need for the decision to be taken by the Executive director as a key decision in line with the provisions of the constitution.
•The contract extension is for three months (ending 31/3/22) as alternative procurement strategies are currently being developed.
•Legal and Procurement services have confirmed it will not be possible to have new electricity contractual arrangement in place by 31/12/21.
•A strategy of three-month rolling extensions or re-tenders has been agreed at the Corporate Leadership Board meeting on 21/12/21, to avoid locking in prices at high levels for any longer than necessary.

There is a clear and pressing need to maintain compliant contracts for heat and power to supply council buildings, housing, and schools
Failure to make arrangements before the current contracts expire on 31/12/21 would mean the council pays off-contract rates until new contracts are in place. These rates are up to 100% more expensive

•The decision is to re-tender the three electricity contracts set out below to 31/3/22.
•An Officer Executive Decision was taken in October 2021 to extend the contracts for 3 months.
•Energy contract renewals are ordinarily made under delegated authority following a December 2020 Cabinet Key Decision but cannot be accomplished within the estimated budget due to the current very high prices. Wholesale energy prices are currently at unprecedented levels which are placing significant pressure on council budgets
•Contracts must be re-let by 31/12/21 to avoid defaulting to off-contract prices however due to the way that the energy market is structured, a decision is needed by the xx December. As this decision is not within the delegated Authority of the Executive Director, and as a key decision is needed before the date of the next Cabinet meeting in January there is a clear and pressing need for the decision to be taken by the Executive director as a key decision in line with the provisions of the constitution.
•The contracts are for three months (ending 31/3/22) as alternative procurement strategies are currently being developed.
•Legal and Procurement services have confirmed it will not be possible to have new electricity contractual arrangements in place by 31/12/21.
•A strategy of three-month rolling extensions or re-tenders has been agreed at the Corporate Leadership Board meeting on 21/12/21, to avoid locking in prices at high levels for any longer than necessary.

The Mayor of Bristol has set out the objective of delivering 2,000 new homes per year, of which 1000 new affordable homes shall be delivered per year by 2023/24. In response to this the Council allocated £57m for the Council to provide grants to Registered Providers and other eligible organisations for affordable homes for rent or supplementary grants to: promote Zero Carbon affordable homes, adopt modular housing and incentivise the building of wheelchair user bungalows. This is the 27nd round of grant funding by the Council under the delegated authority scheme agreed by Cabinet on 2nd April 2019.

Approve the allocation of supplementary grant to Curo Housing Association of £700,000 to support Heat Hierarchy requirements for the development of 70 affordable homes from the Affordable Housing Funding Budget, made under the delegated authority for grant payments (including those in excess of £0.5m) to support the delivery of housing approved by Cabinet on 7th March 2017.

There is a clear and pressing need to maintain compliant contracts for streetlights
Failure to make arrangements before the current contract expires would mean the council pays off-contract rates until new contracts are in place. These rates are up to 100% more expensive

•The decision is to extend the electricity contract set out below to 31/3/22.
•Energy contract renewals are ordinarily made under delegated authority following a December 2020 Cabinet Key Decision but cannot be accomplished within the estimated budget due to the current very high prices. Wholesale energy prices are currently at unprecedented levels which are placing significant pressure on council budgets
•The Contract must be extended by 31/12/21 to avoid defaulting to off-contract prices however due to the way that the energy market is structured, a decision is needed by the 4th January. As this decision is not within the delegated Authority of the Executive Director, and as a key decision is needed before the date of the next Cabinet meeting in January there is a clear and pressing need for the decision to be taken by the Executive director as a key decision in line with the provisions of the constitution.
•The contract extension is for three months (ending 31/3/22) as alternative procurement strategies are currently being developed.
•Legal and Procurement services have confirmed it will not be possible to have a new electricity contractual arrangement in place by 31/12/21.
•A strategy of three-month rolling extensions or re-tenders has been agreed at the Corporate Leadership Board meeting on 21/12/21, to avoid locking in prices at high levels for any longer than necessary.
•An Officer Executive Decision was taken in October 2021 to extend the contracts for 3 months, and this decision seeks a further extension.

The Council’s Schools Energy Club natural gas supply contract, which provides gas for schools, has reached its scheduled end date (31st Oct 21). This unfortunately coincides with historically high energy prices. This contract would normally be renewed under a competitive process, but there was a significant risk of locking the Council in to high rates for an extended period if the contract had been renewed in the usual way. Most energy supply contracts let by the Council include provision for extensions, but these had already been used up on this contract. In order to reduce the impact of current high prices on the Council, the decision is being taken to extend the current contract by a further three months beyond its original end date, in order to allow time for the energy market to restabilise before any new contract was let. This will still incur significantly higher costs for the Council in the short term, but will limit this impact to a few months. In the meantime, Council Officers are developing an alternative procurement approach that would reduce the Council’s exposure to energy market prices in future contracts.

Extension of the Council’s current natural gas supply contract for the Schools Energy Club for three months to 31 January 2022.

The Council’s natural gas supply contract, which provides gas for Council buildings and shared heating systems in Council housing, has reached its scheduled end date (31st Oct 21). This unfortunately coincides with historically high energy prices. This contract would normally be renewed under a competitive process, but there is a significant risk of locking the Council in to high rates for an extended period if the contract is renewed in the usual way. Most energy supply contracts let by the Council include provision for extensions, but these have already been used up on this contract. In order to reduce the impact of current high prices on the Council, the decision is being taken to extend the current contract by a further three months beyond its original end date, in order to allow time for the energy market to restabilise before any new contract was let. This will still incur significantly higher costs for the Council in the short term, but will limit this impact to a few months. In the meantime, Council Officers are developing an alternative procurement approach that would reduce the Council’s exposure to energy market prices in future contracts.

Extension of the Council’s current natural gas supply contracts for Corporate buildings for three months to 31 January 2022

The Council’s electricity supply contract for streetlighting has reached its scheduled end date (30th Sept 21). This coincides with historically high energy prices. This contract would normally be renewed under a competitive process, but there is a significant risk of locking the Council in to high rates for an extended period if the contract had been renewed in the usual way. In common with most energy supply contracts let by the Council, this contract has provision for further extensions. In order to reduce the impact of current high prices on the Council, the decision is being taken to extend the current contract by a further three months beyond its original end date, in order to allow time for the energy market to restabilise before any new contract was let. This will still incur significantly higher costs for the Council in the short term but will limit this impact to a few months. In the meantime, Council Officers are developing an alternative procurement approach that would reduce the Council’s exposure to energy market prices in future contracts.

Extension of the Council’s electricity supply contract for streetlighting for three months.

The Council’s electricity supply contract for Schools has reached its scheduled end date (30th Sept 21). This coincides with historically high energy prices. This contract would normally be renewed under a competitive process, but there is a significant risk of locking the Council in to high rates for an extended period if the contract is renewed in the usual way. In common with most energy supply contracts let by the Council, this contract has provision for further extensions. In order to reduce the impact of current high prices on the Council, the decision is being taken to extend the current contract by a further three months beyond its original end date, in order to allow time for the energy market to restabilise before any new contract was let. This will still incur significantly higher costs for the Council in the short term but will limit this impact to a few months. In the meantime, Council Officers are developing an alternative procurement approach that would reduce the Council’s exposure to energy market prices in future contracts.

Extension of the Council’s electricity supply contract for Schools for three months.

The Council’s electricity supply contract for large electricity consuming sites has reached its scheduled end date (30th Sept 21). This coincides with historically high energy prices. This contract would normally be renewed under a competitive process, but there is a significant risk of locking the Council in to high rates for an extended period if the contract is renewed in the usual way. In common with most energy supply contracts let by the Council, this contract has provision for further extensions. In order to reduce the impact of current high prices on the Council, the decision is being taken to extend the current contract by a further three months beyond its original end date, in order to allow time for the energy market to restabilise before any new contract was let. This will still incur significantly higher costs for the Council in the short term, but will limit this impact to a few months. In the meantime, Council Officers are developing an alternative procurement approach that would reduce the Council’s exposure to energy market prices in future contracts.

Extension of the Council’s half-hourly metered (large sites including City Hall) electricity supply contract for three months.

Reasons for the decision:
To be able to apply for additional external funding to support inequality in Covid 19 vaccination uptake which is a key priority for the city of Bristol
Reason for identifying as an OED:
This is a decision apply for additional external funding of £485,000 and to authorise the Director of Public Health to accept the funding and ensure that the funds are allocated and spent within the terms of the funding agreement. This is an urgent decision to meet the requirement to submit the application by 28th January and to implement delivery between January and March 2022.

To submit a proposal on behalf of Bristol City Council for £475,000 to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Local Government Community Vaccine Champions Programme; and to authorise the Director of Public Health to accept the funding and ensure that funding received is spent in accordance with the funding agreement. Bristol has been selected to apply for this funding as it has been identified as having significant pockets of low uptake. The funding will be used to enhance and develop our existing work on vaccine
uptake among identified groups where there is low uptake and high levels of vaccine hesitancy. The programme will be delivered jointly with partners, including the community voluntary sector and the NHS during 2022. The Cabinet Member of Communities, Public Health and One City Cllr Ellie King has been kept fully informed and is supportive of the decision.

Approve the expenditure of the allocated grant in line with the grant conditions. Please see Dept for Levelling Up, Housing and Communties (DLUHC) guidance issued by letter on 22 December 2021. Full grant payment is expected as follows.
“Payment Process: Allocations can be found at Annex B. Payments are scheduled early in the New Year (2022). Funding has been allocated based on the levels of rough sleeping in each area. S151 officers will be required to submit a spend declaration to the department confirming the grant has been spent in line with grant conditions by 14 April 2022. In line with ringfencing rules, any underspend will be returned to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The council has been allocated £914,198 by DLUHC in order to provide accommodation for rough sleepers and to encourage vaccination uptake amongst this cohort. As the total expenditure is in excess of £500k, this will be taken to Cabinet at the earlier available opportunity for authorisation (8 February 2022).
The council was only notified of the funding on 20 December 2021 and the deadline for expenditure is 31 March 2022.
Therefore, in order to ensure that these essential services are delivered at the earliest opportunity and the Council ensures the most effective use of the funding, the Chief Executive has taken the decision, in consultation with the Cabinet member for Housing Delivery, to authorise initial expenditure from Council resources, (circa £129k detailed below) pending the receipt of the DLUHC grant.
The Council is in a position to enter into an appropriate contract in respect of Arnos Vale Manor Hotel to commence delivery of these services with effect from 5 January 2022.