DD2571 The London Property Pledge

1.1. The Executive Director of Good Growth approved (under cover of DD2543) expenditure of:

• workstream 1: £50,000 on services required to deliver a website to operate the Property Pledge.

• workstream 2: £50,000 on services required to maintain the Property Pledge, including ongoing website functioning, communications and evaluation.

For the services of workstream 1, a related exemption from the requirement to procure competitively was approved with the contract being awarded to the City of Westminster (acting as accountable body for the Cross River Partnership).

1.2. The City of Westminster ran a competitive tender process for workstream 1 in October 2021, and a preferred consultant was agreed upon (Templo Design Limited). However, the City of Westminster withdrew from the process of managing this consultant. The GLA has agreed to pay the City of Westminster a fee of £5,000 from the overall budget for its services in managing the Property Pledge to date. The GLA is taking over management of the remainder of the services with Templo Design Ltd, which the City of Westminster procured.

1.3. The competitive tender process undertaken by the City of Westminster (acting in its Cross River Partnership capacity), outlined above for workstream 1, was in line with the City of Westminster’s procurement rules. The rules stipulate that for low-value procurements – those with an estimated contract value between £10,000 and £100,000 – effort should be made to obtain three quotes.

Six organisations were invited to tender, with two returning tenders. These were assessed against the following four criteria by a panel of assessors made up of the City of Westminster and GLA officers:

• team/experience

• understanding of the brief

• delivery plan

• value for money.

Following the assessment, Templo Design Limited received the highest score from all assessors, with an accumulation of 508 points compared to 447 for the second-highest tender.

1.4. This request for approval is limited to a change to the consolidation of the supplies and services of workstream 1, and part of workstream 2, into a contract with Templo Design Limited, to the value of £60,000. This is due to the City of Westminster (acting in its Cross River Partnership capacity) no longer being able to provide the services required.

1.5. The City of Westminster procured the supplies and services of Templo Design Limited in a manner consistent with the GLA’s procurement protocols under the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code. Officers are content, therefore, that the GLA’s award of a contract as proposed meets the requirements of the Contracts and Funding Code and affords value for money. There is also a practical need and benefit in maintaining consistency of service provision.

1.6. It is proposed that the remaining £37,000 of funds approved under cover of DD2543 be used to procure complementary project services for the remainder of workstream 2, including curation, content development and research. This will be delivered by the GLA through a competitively tendered procurement process in accordance with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code.

1.7. This GLA contribution sits alongside each of the eight founding partners’ intention to contribute of one day a month to manage development and the editorial process over the project’s lifespan. This contribution also covers promotional campaigning, social media, press releases, network meetings, awards and events undertaken with existing resources/networks within the partner organisations.

2.1. The overall objectives of the commissioning of the supplies and services, which are the subject of this Director’s Decision form, remain broadly unchanged from those set out in DD2543. A summary of the services to be provided by Templo Design Limited and the City of Westminster is set out below for clarity.

2.2. Templo Design Limited will deliver a web platform for the Property Pledge. The directly tendered consultants will provide services required to maintain the Property Pledge, including ongoing website functioning, communications and evaluation.

2.3. In due course and through reflection on the success of the initiative, the founding partners will agree a legacy beyond the funding and resources identified in this decision. Our minimum intention is host output content in a way where it remains free-and available to all, into the future.

2.4. The City of Westminster provided project management services to support the services described in 2.2.

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

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not. The “protected characteristics” are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and marriage/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; and encourage them to participate in public life or in any other activity where their participation is disproportionately low. This can involve treating people with a protected characteristic more favourably than those without one.

3.2. The initiative is based around agreed positive behaviours. One of these behaviours concerns the encouragement of social inclusion and access, through management of property to tackle structural inequalities on the high street. As one of the core aims of the pledge, the outcomes of the whole programme are intrinsically tied to issues of equality and inclusion. Consequently, this aspect will form part of the evaluation.

3.3. The website created will aim to represent opinions and include content created by people from diverse backgrounds, to challenge the lack of diversity in the sector. Any engagement will consider a wide group of stakeholders, and different participant needs and tools in utilising engagement. The visual language of any print and digital material produced will consider different audiences and provide accessible and inclusive information, ensuring it adheres to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines AA standards.

3.4. The contracts with Templo Design Limited and the City of Westminster will contain the commitment to develop web resources that comply with the GLA’s own accessibility guidance.

4.1. The links to Mayoral Strategies and priorities remains unchanged from those set out in DD2543.

Risks and issues

4.2. The risks and issues remain unchanged from the existing decision DD2543.

4.3. Officers will carefully manage communications and regularly monitor the project to mitigate risks of delays and engagement with the founding partners. A robust brief will be agreed on and form part of the agreement with Templo Design Limited.

Conflicts of interest

4.4. No officers involved in the development of this proposal or drafting or clearance of this decision from have any conflicts of interest.

5.1. This decision seeks approval for the award of a contract. The expenditure was approved under of DD2543. This decision has no further financial impacts to the GLA.

6.1. The foregoing sections of this report indicate that: the decisions requested of the 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 that are facilitative of, or conducive or incidental to, the promotion of economic development and wealth creation in Greater London. 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 promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom

• consult with appropriate bodies.

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

6.3 Officers have indicated that Templo Design Limited was procured by the City of Westminster in a manner consistent with the GLA’s own procurement protocols under its Contracts and Funding Code; and afford value for money.

6.4 Should the Director be minded to make the decisions sought, officers must ensure that:

• appropriate contracts are entered into and executed by the GLA, the City of Westminster and Templo Design Limited

• any further supplies and services required, not falling within the remit of any contract awarded to Templo Design Limited, are procured by Transport for London Procurement in accordance with the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code; and appropriate contracts are entered into and executed by the GLA and counterparties before commencement of the same.