Cabinet, on 10 November 2021, resolved to:

2.  Delegate authority to the Executive Director Development, in consultation with the Head of Financial Services; the Head of Law and Governance; the Leader and Cabinet Member for Inclusive Growth, Economic Recovery and Partnerships; and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Asset Management, to agree and enter into a building contract and associated professional services for the redevelopment following the conclusion of a procurement exercise.

Council, on 29 November 2021, resolved to:

1.   Approve a capital budget of £9.70m to deliver the project, and including the use of £1.13m of funds awarded to the Council from OxLEP’s Local Growth Fund.

To enter into a Pre Contract Service Agreement (PCSA) with Beard Construction in relation to the redevelopment of Standingford House to provide affordable managed workspace.

The decision to enter into the PCSA will allow a review and value engineering exercise of the present construction design and budget to be undertaken, to achieve a point of acceptable viability for the project.

The consultant team (architect/project manager/quantity surveyor) has produced several iterations of the project, resulting in the present cost plan. The budget has not hit the value of build cost which satisfies feasibility and a business case.  Therefore this work is necessary in order to facilitate the delivery of the redevelopment of Standingford House in line with the Cabinet and Council decisions of 10 and 29 November 2021, and to ensure that the scheme is delivered within budget.

Not to enter into the pre-contract service agreement.  This option was rejected as it would not allow delivery of the project in accordance with the previous Cabinet and Council decisions.

Decision taken by Tom Bridgman, Executive Director (Development) in consultation with Nigel Kennedy, Head of Financial Services; Susan Sale, Head of Law and Governance; Stephen Gabriel, Executive Director (Communities and People); Councillor Susan Brown, Leader and Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy and Partnerships; and Councillor Ed Turner, Deputy Leader (Statutory) – Finance and Asset Management.