Disposal of Paddington Green Police Station & Section House and Hendon

The decision sets out the proposed detail of the final sale arrangements for surplus sites - Paddington Green Police Station and Section House, and two sites at Hendon. These sites have no public access facilities and are not required to support the officer uplift programme. Due to the unique nature of the sites a range of options has been considered for their disposal. The disposals make use of the Greater London Authority (GLA) draft London Plan portfolio approach to achieve the best value for money and deliver the required 50% affordable housing on surplus public land.

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:

1. Approve the sale of MOPAC’s freehold interest in Paddington Green Police Station to Berkeley Homes (Central London) Ltd. in accordance with the Heads of Terms.

2. Approve the sale of MOPAC’s freehold interest in two c.1ha sites at Hendon – the Old Driving School & Repository and the remaining land at Rowan Drive, through GLA Land and Property (GLAP), a wholly owned GLA company, in accordance with the Heads of Terms and the process.

3. Note that 50% Affordable Housing will be delivered as an average across all three sites in the two locations meeting Mayoral targets as set out in the draft London Plan and agreed between the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, and the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development.

1. Introduction and background

1.1. Paddington Green Police Station and Section House was initially approved for disposal in March 2018 via PCD 336.

1.2. When disposing of land and property, MOPAC has a statutory duty to have regard to the principles of Value for Money. Alternative routes for disposal are considered for each property during its preparation to market for sale.

1.3. When bidding on the basis of residential redevelopment, bidders will be asked to acknowledge that when making an offer they have had regard to relevant planning policies, including existing local authority policies on minimum affordable housing requirements, the Mayor's SPG on affordable housing and the draft London Plan. Bidders also will be encouraged to review the GLA funding available for the provision of affordable housing through the Mayor's 'Homes for Londoners: Affordable Homes Programme 2016-2021.’

1.4. In considering the twin objectives of delivering value for money from disposals and meeting affordable housing requirements, MOPAC has taken the draft London Plan portfolio approach. This allows for delivery of the requirement of 50% affordable housing on surplus public sector land as an average across more than one site.

2. Issues for consideration

Paddington Green Police Station and Section House

2.1. Due to the unique position as a developer of a neighbouring site and restrictive covenants which it holds over the Paddington Green Station site, the developer, Berkeley Homes, is in a unique position to deliver more space by combining the 2 sites and address the restrictive covenants.

2.2. Professional advice has been received and peer reviewed. Subsequent discussions with Berkeley Homes have resulted in further improvements to the overall value achieved, and it is recommended that, as Berkeley Homes is in the position of a special purchaser, that an unconditional deal will provide the best value for money to MOPAC.

2.3. An independent valuation by Montagu Evans, showed the offer made by Berkeley Homes exceeded their open market valuation.

2.4. MOPAC also requested a peer review of all the processes and the inputs from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), part of the Cabinet Office, which confirmed that the process undertaken was robust.

2.5. The detail of the proposal is set out in the part 2 papers, and in line with the draft London Plan includes the provision of 35% affordable housing up to a development of 451 units, and 50% thereafter on this site with the balance of the affordable housing at the Hendon sites in order to achieve an average of 50% affordable housing across the portfolio.

Sites at Hendon

2.6. The disposal of the two sites at Hendon will be managed by GLA Land & Housing through the wholly owned GLA company, GLAP. MOPAC and GLAP have agreed an open market valuation for the sites which has been confirmed by MOPAC’s property advisers as providing value for money. GLAP will offer the sites for sale through the London Development Panel 2 (LDP2) framework.

Portfolio Approach

2.7. The draft London Plan sets out a requirement for 50% Affordable Housing to be delivered on all surplus public land. It makes provision for this to be achieved through a portfolio of sites across London. With respect to these sites, a portfolio agreement letter has been exchanged between the Deputy Mayor Planning, Regeneration and Skills and the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime that this will be achieved as an average across the Paddington Green and Hendon sites.

3. Financial Comments

3.1. The generation of capital receipts from the disposal of these sites will support the capital programme and the re-investment in the retained estate and improvements in the digital infrastructure of the Metropolitan Police Service. The detail of the financial implications are set out in the Part 2 papers.

4. Legal Comments

4.1. The functions and duties of MOPAC are set out at section 3(5) to (7) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). Section 3(6) provides that MOPAC must:

4.1.1. secure the maintenance of the metropolitan police force, and

4.1.2. secure that the metropolitan police force is efficient and effective.

4.2. In addition, paragraph 3 of Schedule 3 to the 2011 Act provides that MOPAC may do anything which is calculated to facilitate, or is conducive or incidental to, the exercise of the functions of the Office which includes acquiring and disposing of property (including land) (paragraph 3(2)(b)).

4.3. MOPAC therefore has the power to dispose of land. MOPAC must ‘make arrangements for the proper administration of its financial affairs’ and must ‘secure that one of its officers (its “chief finance officer”) has responsibility for the administration of those affairs’: section 127(2) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the 1999 Act).

4.4. Furthermore, in carrying out its functions (which would include the disposal of land) MOPAC ‘must have regard to any financial code of practice issued by the Secretary of State’ (section 17(4) of the 2011 Act).

4.5. The Home Secretary has issued the ‘Revised Financial Management Code of Practice’ for the Police Forces of England and Wales’ (July 2018) (“the Code”). This provides that the Chief Finance Officer is responsible for “ensuring regularity, propriety, feasibility and value for money in the use of public funds” (paragraph 4.1). Paragraph 12 of the Code provides that ‘Achieving value for money bears on nearly all aspects of deployment of public resources: procurement, asset management, disposals, administrative systems and financial arrangements’ (emphasis added).

4.6. Accordingly, MOPAC must (as a matter of statutory duty) have regard to the principles of Value for Money when making a disposal of land. Value for money can apply to the composite sale of the Hendon sites and the Paddington Green site, which can be looked at together as a package. According to the professional valuation advice received, the proposed arrangements to sell the sites achieve best value for money for MOPAC overall and therefore, the proposals are in accordance with MOPAC’s powers.

5. Commercial Issues

5.1. The detail of the commercial aspects of this proposal are set out in the Part 2 papers.

6. GDPR and Data Privacy

6.1. The proposal does not use personally identifiable data of members of the public, so there are no GDPR issues to be considered.

7. Equality Comments

7.1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

7.2. Paddington Green is currently empty and has no operational use. The two sites at Hendon are either just open land or are facilities that have been replaced by modern buildings. As a result, there are no impacts on equality or diversity arising from this proposal.

8. Background/supporting papers

8.1. MPS Part 1 paper.