The Hackney Procurement Board is scheduled to consider a general exception notice regarding a domestic electrical testing contract. This notice is being issued because the standard notice period for key decisions has not been met, necessitating an extraordinary meeting.

Domestic Electrical Testing Contract

The Hackney Procurement Board is scheduled to review a general exception notice concerning the award of a contract for domestic electrical testing and inspections. This is a crucial service for ensuring the safety of residents in Hackney's housing stock and maintaining statutory compliance.

The report pack indicates that the council's direct labour organisation (DLO) has fallen behind on its electrical testing programme, creating a backlog. While the DLO currently conducts around 1,300 tests annually, this capacity is insufficient to address the backlog and re-establish compliance within required timelines. The proposed tender process aims to appoint an external contractor to supplement the DLO's efforts, enabling the council to meet its monthly and annual targets and ensure statutory compliance.

The reason for the general exception is to allow the council to award this contract before a meeting with the Regulator scheduled for 28 May 2026. The next scheduled meeting of the Hackney Procurement Board would take place after this date. Failure to demonstrate significant progress on the domestic electrical testing programme could lead the Regulator to conclude that substantial progress has not been made against agreed commitments. This could potentially result in fines and trigger a wider investigation into the council's compliance areas. The report pack states that this situation could lead to the Council placing residents at higher risk due to a larger percentage of non-compliant properties.

The lead member for this item is Councillor Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Inclusive Neighbourhoods. The report author is Anthony Childs, and the Directorate involved is Housing, Climate and Economy. The decision is being made under Regulation 10 of The Local Authority (Executive Authority) (Meeting and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012, and Part 6C Paragraph 11.6 of the Council's Constitution, which outlines the Council's General Exception Procedure Rules.