Agenda and decisions

The following item is for the primary purpose of providing members of the public with all relevant information on the respective matter, other than those elements, which in accordance with the relevant sections of the Local Government Act 1972, remain confidential and require that any arising decision is taken in Part 2 of the agenda.

Salford City Council - Record of Decision

I, Councillor Tracy Kelly, the Statutory Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Housing, in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution, do hereby approve:

1.    The termination of the current agreement with Salix Homes.

2.    The transfer of services to the council’s Community Safety Team.

3.    The changes in the service delivery and improved accountability included in the revised Service Level Agreement.

4.    The instruction of ICT Services to take the necessary steps to transfer the network back to the civic centre.

5.    HR to work with Salix Homes to confirm the required TUPE implications.

The Reasons are that following a review of the security and concierge service in Pendleton carried out with the support of residents it is suggested that bringing the security service back to the council and operating it from the council’s CCTV Control room offers better value for money for residents.  The option best responded to resident and stakeholder consultation and offers a consistent service and charging to all residents, reducing the security service charge to residents.

Options considered and rejected were - a number of alternative security delivery services were considered and rejected as part of the review.

Assessment of Risk: Low

The review responds to resident aspirations for the method of delivering security and concierge services across the nine blocks whilst offering reduced costs and responding to previous dissatisfaction with the service.

Legal Advice obtained: Tony Hatton, Manchester Legal

The report sets out the Council’s intention to bring back in-house the security and concierge services to Council-owned tower blocks in Pendleton. A Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Salix Homes for them to provide remote and on-site concierge services, CCTV monitoring and mobile patrols to the blocks is currently in place, but it is not clear in the report when that “Either party may terminate the provision of the Services by Salix under this Appendix by giving not less than six (6) months’ written notice to the other party",so the arrangement may be terminated by the Council serving 6 months' notice to terminate on Salix, without financial compensation becoming due. Salix are also obliged to continue to provide the services during the notice period, and to cooperate with the Council when the services are transferred to a new provider - the Council.

The Council is under a duty to provide "Best Value", and hence reserves the right to provide the services through whatever resources will provide that best value, which gives the Council flexibility to consider in-house provision without going out to the wider market.

The Council has carried out consultation exercises with tenants, residents, and partners and made a robust analysis and assessment of the service provision, concluding that bringing the service in-house will deliver best value for residents and the Council.

There are likely to be TUPE implications with the proposal, and no doubt HROD and Employment Legal Teams can provide more advice as the  ...  view the full decision text for item 6a