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RESOLVED to award a contract to City Electrical Factors for
12 months at a value of £2.1 million, via the Efficiency East Midlands framework
for the delivery of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (Wave 2) and
associated works project only. 

.

 

The Framework contract will include an option to extend the arrangement
by a further 2 years on the basis that any extension after the initial one-year
term is reviewed annually.

 

The cost of the contract is subject to annual fluctuation depending on
market prices but is fixed for 2026/27.

 

Reasons for the decision

The Council was successful in a grant funding bid in 2024 under the
Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (Wave 2) and secured an allocation of £3.8 million.
The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund project will retrofit 276 rural
properties to a minimum of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) standard C,
resulting in reduced energy consumption, reducing carbon emissions and
expected energy cost savings for tenants. The project will deliver a
substantial contribution to council’s climate commitments. In addition to the
grant funding, the council has committed to contribute to the overall funding of the
project and has allocated circa £4.929 million of capital funding to the
project.

 

A range of measures will be incorporated including the installation of
roof-mounted Photo Voltaic panels to generate power and Air Source Heat Pumps
to provide space heating and hot water. Other measures including cavity wall
insulation, loft insulation, external wall insulation, and new windows and
doors will be added to some of the properties based on bespoke design
criteria. 

To drive efficiencies the council will directly procure the high value
materials associated with this project and ‘free issue’ these to the selected
contractor.  These materials include:

 

·   Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)

·   Domestic hot water cylinders

·   Photovoltaic roof panels and support rail systems

·   DC-AC Inverters

 

The cost of the contract was built into the original budgets
for 2024/25 and 2025/26.  The underspend in 2024/25 has now been
reallocated into 2025/26 and 2026/27 based upon revised estimates for the
timing of the expenditure.  The impact of this programme on the
Medium-Term Financial Strategy will only be the timing differences arising in
the recognition of the expenditure and the associated grant funding.

 

The supplier was selected from the EEM framework as they were placed
First for Price and Quality. There is also a social value contribution from the
framework equating to a 1% cash rebate to the council based on the overall
expenditure through this arrangement.

The route to market assessment has been undertaken in conjunction with
procurement colleagues at Chelmsford City Council.

Alternative options considered

Alternative
options considered:

 

The route
to market assessment considered a range of procurement routes.  Due to the timescales attached to expenditure
of the allocated grant funding, a direct award via a framework is the most
effective option to procure a suitable supplier.