Agenda item

RESOLVED that 1) Executive accepts the funding DESNZ,

2) Executive approves the procurement of:

·       Nottingham Trent University to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.8 of this report

·       Direct Education Business Partnership CIO to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.12 of this report

·       East Midlands Chambers to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.17 of this report

·       Elmhurst Energy Systems Limited to provide the services set out in paragraph 2.26 of this report; and

·       RLB to project manage Phase 2 of the Retrofit Skills Pilot.

3) Executive accept the supported funding for the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator.

Executive considered a detailed report, presented by the Portfolio Holder for Growth, which provided an update to Members on Phase 1 and Phase 2 of a Retrofit Skills pilot funded by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) through the Midlands Net Zero Hub and the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator funded by the MCS Foundation.

The report also proposed:

·       acceptance of funding from DESNZ;

·       approval of revenue spend over £75,000;

·       approval for five separate exemptions from the Contract Procedure Rules;

·       acceptance of supported funding from the MCS Foundation for the Local Authority Retrofit Accelerator.

This work built on previous work identifying the need to provide more opportunities for people living and working in the District to gain skills to ensure its local workforce was not left behind in the transition to net zero and was better able to obtain higher skilled, higher paid jobs.

Moved by Councillor John Ritchie and seconded by Councillor Duncan McGregor

RESOLVED that: 1) the funding DESNZ be accepted,

2)    approval is granted for the procurement of:

·       Nottingham Trent University to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.8 of this report

·       Direct Education Business Partnership CIO to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.12 of this report

·       East Midlands Chambers to provide the services as set out in paragraph 2.17 of this report

·       Elmhurst Energy Systems Limited to provide the services set out in paragraph 2.26 of this report; and

·       RLB to project manage Phase 2 of the Retrofit Skills Pilot

3)    the supported funding for the Local Area Retrofit Accelerator be accepted.

Reasons for Recommendation

In conclusion, the Council’s work on retrofit skills has therefore been and will increasingly be of local and regional significance. This work could only continue as proposed and at pace with the support of external funding. The work was of significance because of the challenges every Council faced retrofitting its own housing stock and the need to decarbonise our existing housing stock to achieve net zero. These projects aim to deliver actionable solutions that addressed these challenges.

In addition, the work was of significance because the quicker we can improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock through accelerating delivery of retrofit solutions, the quicker more of our most vulnerable residents would live in a house that was more likely to be free of damp, less draughty and cheaper to keep warm.

The work was also of significance because of the potential impact of substantial inward investment for retrofit for the local economy and local supply chain. This investment could be guided by the Local Area Energy Planning, subject of a separate report and due for adoption by the combined authority next year.

Decarbonisation of existing housing stock was already a priority for the new Government and the combined authority and the District needed to be investment ready to take advantage of any funding that became available from the Government or the Mayor in any event.

Retrofit skills were also the same skills that the local workforce and local businesses would need to get involved with projects like construction of heat networks goes ahead in the District if the mine water demonstrator project (also subject of a separate report) was successful, for example, in the construction of other large renewable energy projects or in the construction of new homes that would need to be to the ‘future homes’ standard.

Therefore, the projects in this report were closely aligned with the Council’s own

ambitions to drive the local economy, maximise opportunities arising from the combined authority and create the right conditions to make the District and the people who lived and work here more prosperous.

The projects in this report were also closely linked to making the business case for a skills hub that had been included in the list of regeneration projects. In particular, this work was aimed at ensuring it would be a viable proposition if it were to go ahead and as importantly, work towards the Council’s ambitions to improve educational attainment in the District and create more opportunities for more of our residents to find employment and gain careers in better jobs, with higher skills and higher wages.

Finally, the projects had been progressed to the point they were now ready to go, which meant there was a very limited risk of failure to deliver on the requirements of the funding bodies but there was a residual corporate risk of reputational damage if the Council decided to withdraw at this late stage after showing purposeful leadership in this area and driving these initiatives forward across the region over several years.

Consequently, it was considered that there were very good reasons for the Executive to accept the recommendations made in this report especially when taking into account that aside from the original investment in the NTU report and officer time, this was all being achieved with no direct cost to the Council.

Alternative Options and Reasons for Rejection

The option to refuse the funding offers was rejected because significant progress had been made on retrofit skills and the funding was required to continue this work.

The option to discontinue the retrofit skills projects was rejected because of the

significance of this work in relation to the Council’s own aims and objectives, and its wider significance in terms of decarbonisation of housing stock and commercial property, the impact on the local economy, and the boost to employment and skills opportunities within the District.

The option to go out to tender where exemptions had been sought was rejected

because of the urgency of the requirements for the relevant goods or services, or there had been a continuation of existing contracted works and where a direct award was to be made, the contractor was able to meet the requirements of the funding body, and could complete the works in an appropriate time frame and cost envelope.