This meeting will include the submission of a decision about property/asset management to Mark Thomas for approval. This information has been published for pre-decision scrutiny.

Further Limited Extension of Property/Asset Management Specialist

This decision seeks approval for the extension of an external specialist contract from November 2024 to the end of March 2025. The specialist in question was brought on board in May 2023 to help make improvements within the council’s Property Construction, Property Management and Asset Management functions. This is their second contract extension; their first saw them working, among other things, with the now-defunct Schools Task Group which was set up to look into operational improvements at Torfaen Schools. The report argues that

The work completed to date, combined with a recent restructuring within the Economy and Environment Directorate to create the new Economy and Place Service, has provided a solid platform for the development of the Council’s new Asset Management Strategy, which is due to be completed by the end of March/early April 2025.

The report requests that the specialist be allowed to continue working with the council so that they can help to finish work on the new Asset Management Strategy and Property Handbook. It also states that the total cost for the extension will be £37,985 plus VAT.