The Officer Key Decision meeting on 7 February 2025 was scheduled to include consideration of a proposal to award a contract for the construction of the Green Street Community Hub.

Green Street Community Hub construction works

The meeting was scheduled to include consideration of a proposal to award the contract for the construction of the Green Street Community Hub to Hollington & Sons (builders) Ltd t/a Olli Group/Olli Construction for a total value of up to £1,857,944.

The report prepared for the meeting set out the background to the project, noting that:

The Green Street Community Hub is part of the Good Growth Programme (GGP), a suite of projects focused around improving and enhancing Queen’s Market and wider Green Street town centre.

The report set out that the contract was to cover the refurbishment of units 412-416 and unit 420 Green Street.

The report described the tender process that had been followed and set out the reasons why Hollington & Sons (builders) Ltd t/a Olli Group/Olli Construction were judged to have submitted the most advantageous tender. Six bids were received and assessed according to a methodology that allocated 50% weighting to quality, with a further 10% weighting allocated to social value, and the remaining 40% weighting allocated to price.

The report noted that:

Following the conclusion of the quality and price evaluation process, the highest scoring bidder was approached by LBN to allow them the opportunity to provide further value engineering and savings where possible through alternative methods of construction and/or product specification. Through this value engineering exercise, the final contract value has reduced from the original submitted tender price of £1,914,112 (incl. provisional sums) to £1,857,944 (incl. provisional sums).

The report set out that:

The anticipated delivery dates for the project are as follows: Award of contract February 2025 Mobilisation commencement February 2025 Contract start on site March 2025 Contract completion March 2026

The report described the funding arrangements for the project, stating that it:

is funded through London Borough of Newham Capital funding with support from the Mayor of London (GLA) and Levelling Up Funding.

The report went on to say that:

The GLA capital Grant Award allows for grant payments for costs incurred up to March 2025. Levelling Up Funding allows for grant payments for costs incurred up to March 2025. However, the Authority have discussed with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), to allow for an extension of the remaining expenditure into 2025/2026 based on the fact that the remaining spend is contractually committed. This has been agreed in principle with MHCLG representatives, and we expect to receive formal confirmation shortly. Therefore, the risk of any grant being withdrawn, or not utilised, is low.

The report concluded by describing the impact of the proposals on the council's policy objectives, stating that:

The award of this contract will refurbish these vacant units and bring them in to productive use. In so doing, the project will contribute to the following Building a Fairer Newham Corporate Plan Priorities:  Priority 1: A healthier Newham and ageing well – Outcome 1, 2, 3 & 4.  Priority 2: Newham’s inclusive economy to support you in these hard times – Outcome 1 and 4.  Priority 3: Your Neighbourhood – Outcome 1, 2 and 3.  Priority 4: Safer Newham – Outcome 1  Priority 6: Supporting our young people – Outcome 2 and 3  Priority 7: People powered Newham and widening participation – Outcome 2

The report noted the extensive public consultation that had already been carried out on the project. A decision on whether to approve the award of the contract was delegated to Paul Kitson, the Corporate Director of Inclusive Economy, Housing and Culture, in consultation with the Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, who is the Lead Member for Inclusive Economy, Housing Delivery and Climate Emergency.

The report pack also included the agenda for the meeting of the Mayor and Cabinet on 7 May 2024, at which approval was given to delegate authority to award the contract. ¹ This report set out the proposed procurement route for this project and for the Will Thorne Pavilion and sought approval for the delegated award of both contracts. The report also included, as appendices, the emerging designs for both the Green Street Community Hub and the Will Thorne Pavilion.²