ADD2825 Project management support for Maudsley and Bethlem feasibility studies

1.1.    Mayoral Decision (MD) 3424 approved receiving and spending grant funding from Homes England, for projects and activities that facilitate housing delivery in London. Up to £230,000 of this funding has been allocated to early-stage design and feasibility work. This is to explore how the land can be used more efficiently on the Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital sites (in the boroughs of Lambeth and Bromley, respectively). Both sites are owned by the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM). The studies would involve looking at how existing clinical assets could be improved and boosted; and how any surplus land could be used to introduce other land uses (e.g., residential or commercial).

1.2.    This feasibility work will be carried out by a multi-disciplinary team of consultants (led by urban designers and architects). It will be procured using the Architecture and Urbanism Framework. To ensure an effective client team (consisting of the GLA and SLaM), the GLA wishes to procure external project-management support to oversee the project; and to direct the appointed consultants on behalf of the partner organisations. This support will constitute an experienced project manager, with a relevant background in managing the development of health estates.

1.3.    SLaM has previously explored the disposal and redevelopment of a smaller plot of land at the Maudsley Hospital, in tandem with its Lambeth Hospital site. For this project – which included early-stage design and feasibility work – it procured the services of Darna Project Management Consultancy Limited (Darna). The disposal of the Maudsley plot was paused, amid a desire to develop a more holistic masterplan for the entire site. However, SLaM continued with the disposal of the Lambeth Hospital site, retaining Darna’s services. Given the consultant’s current work with SLaM, and its previous recent work on the Maudsley Hospital site, this Assistant Director Decision (ADD) seeks approval – by means of a direct award – to appoint Darna to provide project-management services that will support the feasibility studies on Maudsley and Bethlem hospitals. 

1.4.    Section 9 of the GLA Contracts and Funding Code sets out that exemptions from the normal procurement processes will only be considered where there is a clear and specific rationale. Section 10 of the Code includes the following grounds for exemption:

•    “previous involvement in a specific current project or continuation of existing work that cannot be separated from the new project/work” 

•    “the supplier is unique in its ability to provide compatibility with an existing service (not applicable to the majority of contracts with contract values exceeding £150,000 excluding VAT)”.

 
1.5.    Procuring project-management services to support the feasibility studies warrants an exemption from the usual procurement process, due to the following:

•    The project manager has been involved in a previous iteration of the Maudsley redevelopment: the residential-led redevelopment of a parcel of surplus land. This feasibility study will look beyond that parcel of land to examine opportunities across the wider side. It an extension of SLaM’s estate transformation work.

•    The project manager is currently embedded within SLaM. Given the close working relationship between the project manager and SLaM, the consultant has a unique understanding of the relevant estates personnel within SLaM. They can therefore navigate the organisation’s complexity, to engage key decision-makers. 

•    Given the specific nature of the Homes England funding, the supplier will carry out a discrete piece of work, with no scope for extension.
 

2.1.    The objectives of the early-stage feasibility work on the Maudsley Hospital site are as follows:

•    Make the best use of limited public estate, by consolidating assets and intensifying use of the site.

•    Enhance the healthcare facilities on site, by addressing SLaM’s future clinical needs in terms of the volume of provision and future models of care.

•    Provide a variety of homes onsite – including affordable homes, key worker housing and other types of housing – that may reduce the burden on clinical space for both SLaM and the wider NHS system in south London.

•    Provide complementary commercial space onsite, suitable for organisations carrying out research and other commercial activities related to SLaM’s clinical specialisms. 

•    Improve the public realm, biodiversity and green space within and around the site – particularly at the interface with Denmark Hill. This will have a positive impact on mental and physical health for staff, patients and residents.

•    Improve the connectivity and permeability of transport to and from the site; and the conditions for sustainable travel. 

•    Improve the sustainability of the site, contributing to the decarbonisation, environmental performance and climate resilience of SLaM’s estate.

2.2.    The objectives of the work relating to the Bethlem Hospital site are as follows: 

•    Identify the optimal locations for housing development, considering several options – ranging from minimal intervention, to opportunities to consolidate some assets.

•    Enhance healthcare facilities onsite where possible; and ensure that SLaM’s ability to provide care, now and in the future, is not compromised.

•    Identify the optimal housing capacity for the site and a range of tenures – including affordable homes, key worker housing and other types of housing – that may reduce the burden on clinical space, for both SLaM and the wider NHS system in south London.

•    Consider the sustainability of the proposed housing, including options to retain and reuse existing assets.

•    Where relevant to the housing proposals, identify opportunities to improve: 

o    the public realm
o    access to the site
o    the conditions that can promote active and sustainable travel.

2.3.    The project manager will support the delivery of outcomes against these objectives. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and the GLA are subject to a public-sector equality duty and must have due regard to the need to:

•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010

•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not

•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    Protected characteristics under section 149 of the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage or civil partnership status. The duty involves having appropriate regard to these matters as they apply in the circumstances, including having regard to the need to: 

•    remove or minimise any disadvantage suffered by those who share or are connected to a protected characteristic

•    take steps to meet the different needs of such people

•    encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low.

3.3.    In efficiently producing the feasibility studies – through the appointment of project-management support – greater clarity is expected around the potential clinical, commercial and housing opportunities on the Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital sites. Improving clinical facilities on both sites should lead to improved public service delivery to mental health patients within the wide catchment area served by both hospitals. Identifying surplus public land for the delivery of housing will help to implement policies set out in the London Housing Strategy and the London Plan. The work will therefore benefit a wide range of Londoners in housing need.
 

Key risks and issues 

4.1.    The key risk is insufficient time to complete the feasibility studies. Given the conditions of funding from Homes England, there is risk that – once the main consultancy services (urban design and architecture) have been procured – there will not be enough time for the design and feasibility work to progress to a suitable point before the spend deadline.

4.2.    To avoid abortive work, the contract with Darna will be subject to successfully procuring the main urban design and architecture consultants. The tender specification for these consultants has set out a full scope of work for the project 

Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities 

4.3.    The table below highlights the links to key Mayoral strategies and priorities:

Conflicts of interest

4.4.    There are no identified conflicts of interest from any officer involved in the drafting or clearance of this ADD.

5.1.    Assistant Director’s approval is sought to directly appoint  Darna to oversee and manage the Maudsley and Bethlem feasibility studies, on behalf of the joint client team of the GLA and SLaM. The spend related to this work has been approved under MD3424, which also approved £230,000 of Homes England funding. 

5.2.    Project-management consultancy services will cost up to £19,200. This is based on quoted day rate of £800 to manage the Maudsley and Bethlem project. The project is expected to require this resource for approximately two days per week, until the project ends on 31 March 2026. The total anticipated cost of the project management support is therefore £19,200. However, this is an upper limit; expenditure will be made against actual hours worked up to this limit. 
 

6.1.    The sections above indicate that the decision requested of the Assistant Director fall within the statutory power under section 30 of the Greater London Authority 1999 (as amended) (the GLA Act), acting on behalf of the GLA, to do anything he considers will promote the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:

•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people

•    consider how the proposals will affect:

o    the health of persons in Greater London
o    the health inequalities between persons living in Greater London
o    the achievement of sustainable development in the UK
o    climate change, and the consequences of climate change

•    consult with appropriate bodies.
 

7.1.    The work will be delivered according to the following timetable: