Agenda item

Appendix 1 will be circulated at the meeting

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure which presented the result of the procurement process to appoint a development partner to assist in meeting the affordable housing objectives of the Council’s Strategic Infrastructure Plan, and sought approval of various recommendations with the objective of commencing construction works on site.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)       note the outcome of the procurement evaluation process and agree to a select a preferred bidder (as detailed within appendix 1 to be circulated) for the Strategic Mixed Tenure Housing for Aberdeen City project;

(b)       agree the structure of the proposed Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) as described in the report and delegate authority to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Finance, to register the LLP and to conclude and sign the LLP Agreement with the preferred bidder, and to negotiate and agree any changes to the documentation which he considers to be necessary or desirable;

(c)        approve the process for LLP business planning and budget preparation as described in the report;

(d)       approve the procedures for the transfer of initial sites and option sites as described in the report and delegate authority to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Finance, to conclude and sign the Development Agreement with the LLP once the LLP had been established and to negotiate and agree any fine-tuning to the procedures, and any changes to the documentation, which he considers to be necessary or desirable;

(e)       to approve the disposal of the site at East Woodcroft, as shown on the plan at appendix 2 to the report, for the amount specified in the report subject to adjustment for finalisation of the costs associated with the identified conditions, and instruct the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to transfer title to the site to the LLP and agree final terms and conditions in consultation with the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure;

(f)        to approve the disposal (in phases) of the site at Summerhill, as shown on the plan at appendix 2, for the amount specified in the report subject to adjustment for finalisation of the costs associated with the identified conditions, and instruct the Head of Legal and Democratic Services to transfer title to the site in phases to the LLP and agree final terms and conditions being agreed in consultation with the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure; and also to approve the entering into of a Licence Agreement to allow the LLP to occupy parts of the site for construction operation or other operations prior to their disposal to the LLP;

(g)       to approve the disposal of the option sites, as shown on the plans at appendix 2, subject to the process contained within the Development Agreement and to delegate responsibility for approving land value for the disposal of the option sites to the Council’s Property Sub Committee;

(h)       to appoint three elected members as the Council’s representatives on the LLP Management Board;

(i)         to give the Council’s three representatives on the LLP Management Board the authority to make decisions on behalf of the Council in relation to the business of the LLP, subject to the provisions of the LLP Agreement which reserve some decisions for the Council to the exclusion of the Management Board;

(j)         to approve the governance arrangements in line with the ALEO governance arrangements;

(k)        to delegate authority to the Head of Finance to seek consent of the Scottish Ministers for the disposal of the Housing Revenue Account sites at East Woodcroft and the former St Machar Primary School;

(l)         to note that a progress report would be brought back to Council within six months after the establishment of the LLP; and

(m)      to delegate authority to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Finance, to do anything else which is necessary or expedient in order to implement any of the above recommendations.

Following questions to officers, appendix 1 to the report was circulated which advised that Places for People Group Limited was the preferred bidder to be approved within recommendation (a) of the report.

DECLARATION OF INTEREST

At this juncture, Councillor Delaney declared an interest by virtue of his membership of the Board of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.  Councillor Delaney considered that the nature of his interest required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations thereon.

The Council resolved:-

(i)         to approve recommendations (a), (c), (e), (f), (g), (i), (j), (k) and (l) contained within the report;

(ii)        in relation to recommendation (b), to agree the structure of the proposed LLP as described in the report and delegate authority to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Convener and Vice Convener of the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee, the Convener of the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee, the Convener of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee, the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Finance, to register the LLP and to conclude and sign the LLP Partnership Agreement with the preferred bidder, and to negotiate and agree any changes to the documentation which he considered to be necessary or desirable;

(iii)       in relation to recommendation (d), to approve the procedures for the transfer of initial sites and option sites as described in the report and delegate authority to the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in consultation with the Convener and Vice Convener of the Finance, Policy and Resources Committee, the Convener of the Communities, Housing and Infrastructure Committee, the Convener of the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee, the Director of Communities, Housing and Infrastructure and the Head of Finance, to conclude and sign the Development Agreement with the LLP once the LLP had been established and to negotiate and agree any fine-tuning to the procedures, and any changes to the documentation, which he considers to be necessary or desirable;

(iv)       in relation to recommendation (h), to appoint two elected members from the Administration and one elected member from the opposition as the Council’s representatives on the LLP Management Board; and

(v)        to not approve recommendation (m) contained within the report.