DD2319 Royal Docks Regeneration Exhibition Phase 1

MD2338 approved expenditure of up to £212.5m for the Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan to deliver an integrated and catalytic package of projects that are identified under the five strategic objectives of Place, Connectivity, Economy, Activation and Promotion. The MD delegates authority to the Executive Director of Housing and Land, to approve through Director Decision forms, the income and detailed spending proposals for each project that is to be funded within the initial £212.5m expenditure budget envelope.

The next five years are critical in the remaining 20-years of the Royal Docks EZ. With key development sites moving into the delivery phase and a comprehensive programme of placemaking and activation about to be progressed, there is an urgent need to provide a more co-ordinated promotional and engagement effort alongside key development partners. A Royal Docks Regeneration exhibition and the development of a potential ‘East London Centre’ programme will help to communicate the change regionally as well as nationally and internationally and ensure the proposed growth and regeneration ambitions can be realised.

In 2017, New London Architecture (NLA)/Pipers were commissioned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) through Assistant Director Decision (ADD) 2146 to scope out options for establishing an East London Centre – a physical space in the Royal Docks, which could accommodate the expanding Royal Docks Delivery Team and also create a centre for discussion, debate and more joined-up promotion.

Further details of this piece of work are subject to commercial sensitivity and have been included in Part 2 of this DD.

Following the NLA/Pipers’s initial scoping exercise, the Royal Docks Team are to commission a regeneration exhibition to showcase the work underway at the Royal Docks under this approval. This will tie into a high-profile event in October 2019 and take advantage of an opportunity for the team and development partners to have a presence. This will be in the form of a small exhibition and an architecture site model showing the Royal Docks development context. Both the model and the exhibition with associated events will be procured by mini-competition under existing frameworks.

This commission will also include work that will explore options for an East London Centre programme over a 1-2 year pilot period to inform the full Delivery Plan period scope for this project. This will include a larger exhibition and events programme that will tell the story of the docks whilst also providing opportunities to link the wider East London sub-regional development context. This programme will bring together professionals across the built environment sector and offer a platform for discussion whilst also promoting the regeneration underway at the docks. In tandem, there will also be programmatic elements catered for the wider public.

The full pilot programme will seek further approvals for the full contract amount with more detailed information regarding the programme following the appointment of a consultant. This approval will cover initial work and fees.

This approval also includes an allowance of funds required to secure spatial requirements from Siemens for the exhibition, which may require legal or other professional input. Further details in Part 2.

The objectives of the commission(s) are to:

• Deliver a small exhibition and architecture model to showcase the Royal Docks development context in time for a high-profile event in October 2019;

• Develop an approach to an East London Centre programme for a 1-year pilot for the approval of the Royal Docks Team and stakeholders;

• Deliver initial events programming over start-up period;

• Develop and curate a larger exhibition telling the story of the Royal Docks and explore linking the wider East London sub-regional context; and

• Deliver professional advice and support to enable programmatic activities.

The benefits of this project are:

• Fostering engagement and relationships between professionals to discuss joined-up approaches placemaking – local placemaking benefit and professional benefit and promotion;

• Promoting the regeneration work at the Royal Docks - local economic and regional professional benefit; and

• Communicating regeneration to the local community and offering a means of engagement – local community benefit, institutional benefit (transparency, openness).

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation; and

• Advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The Royal Docks EZ Delivery Plan projects are aimed at implementing a number of the Mayor’s policies such as the London Plan, A City for All Londoners, Healthy Streets Approach, draft Culture Strategy, London Housing Strategy, Transport Strategy and is aligned with the Mayor’s Equalities Framework to consider the requirements of relevant equalities groups.

Marketing and promotional activity will reach out to and engage with a wide and diverse range of audiences, which includes local communities, visitors, investors, occupiers, businesses, the media as well as collaborators and stakeholders. Content will be accessible and inclusive and will draw in surrounding communities into the evolving story of the Royal Docks, including work with local schools and community groups to help deliver on LBN’s Convergence objectives. Equalities considerations will also be taken into account by the GLA in connection with all work procured.

Risks: limited engagement and buy-in from stakeholders and development partners leading to confused and inconsistent marketing and promotional activity across the Royal Docks. This will be mitigated by establishing a quarterly marketing forum and identifying opportunities for joined up working on the larger exhibition and events programme.

The overall objective of this approval is to maximise the regeneration of the EZ and telling the story of the wider East London sub-regional development context. A strong exhibition programme is essential for the Royal Docks to accelerate development and communicate the wider opportunity of the Royal Docks EZ beyond each individual development site. Stakeholders and development partners are eager to see a programme of marketing and communications that can amplify the Royal Docks offer and resonate positively with local, London and international audiences.

It is not considered that any further impact assessment is required for this specific decision.

Key stakeholders including development partners and relevant marketing and communications teams at both the London Borough of Newham and GLA have been consulted on the promotional exhibition and model specifications required through this DD.

This decision requests approval for up to £490,000 revenue expenditure to develop an exhibition with architecture model. This expenditure will be incurred in 2019-20. The expenditure will cover:

• Consultant fees (£90,000)
• Revenue costs for a Royal Docks architectural model (£400,000)

This expenditure will be funded from within the £212.5 million approved delivery plan budget confirmed in MD2338.

This report requests approval of expenditure already authorised via MD2338. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Executive Director concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conductive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment, in Greater London.

In implementing the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought, officers should comply 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 promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and

• Consult with appropriate bodies.

In taking the decisions requested, the Executive Director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation) and to foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it. To this end, the Executive Director should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

Section 1 of this report indicates that the GLA intends to procure goods and services. Section 9 of the GLA Contracts & Funding Code requires the GLA to engage with TfL Procurement, develop a procurement strategy with TfL Commercial and seek a call-off from a suitable framework where possible or, if not, i) undertake a formal tender process to procure such goods or services in relation to all contracts for goods and services with a value of more than £25,000 and up to £150,000 before the commencement of the services or provision of the goods or ii) undertake a tender process compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to procure such goods and services in relation to all contracts for goods and services with a value above £150,000 before the commencement of the services or provision of the goods.