CD144 Procurement of Newbridge Advisors for Western Lands Financial Consultancy Support

In January 2020, the Board approved OPDC's revised delivery approach which included the following key elements:

• a new focus to the regeneration of the area (as supported by CD130), taking a comprehensive view of the 'Western Lands' along Old Oak Common Lane, Old Oak Lane and Victoria Road where key sites are owned by Department for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail;
• developing an evidence base of the benefit of a comprehensive and coordinated approach to land, development and infrastructure funding to optimise the strategic opportunities that the area offers;
• securing the support of major partners including public sector landowners and funders; and
• developing an engagement plan to ensure local and future communities in the area can influence the development and delivery of this major opportunity for London.

Since January, OPDC officers have engaged with key stakeholders including Network Rail, HS2 and the boroughs to begin the process of securing the support of the major partners to the development of the strategy for Western Lands. OPDC has also engaged with central government - via the Ministry for Homes, Community and Local Government (MHCLG), Homes England (HE) and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority - to discuss potential funding opportunities.

Over the summer OPDC have developed proposals for the allocation of these sited for mixed use development alongside OPDC's planning officers for the purpose of developing the Local Plan modifications which have been shared with stakeholders, presented at OPDC's OCtober Board and will be subject to further public consultation.

For the development team to support the Local Plan further technical work will focus on the following broad areas:

• funding - where planning gain may not fund sufficient infrastructure, or fund it early enough in the development cycle to support accelerated, high quality delivery;
• infrastructure - providing greater certainty on cost, deliverability and timing of delivery required to support development;
• land and rights - providing greater understanding of the land that might be required to deliver infrastructure and public realm improvements; nd
• viability and deliverability - of specific development sites that could be brought forward more quickly.

There are several linked Board decisions and CDs that relate to this request:

• Firstly, CD133 authorised the appointment of Savills to assess the viability of the Channel Gate site and review development capacity in the Western Lands area;
• Secondly, in May 2020, the Board authorised expenditure of £68k to support the finalisation of Prior + Partner's commission and further land and property due diligence work;
• Thirdly, in June 2020, the Board approved a CEO delegation of £150k, to progress the Western Lands funding strategy; an essential component of OPDC's delivery strategy;
• Fourthly, CD141 draws down on this approval and seeks authority to appoint specialist input from TfL's Operational Property team to support land and property due diligence work; and
• Finally, the 13 October Board paper has superseded these approvals and approved a delegation for the Development Team's Western Lands budget of £440k. This approval is being sought within that delegation.

This CD is requesting approval for the CEO for consultancy expenditure, drawing on the delegation provided by the Board, to support OPDC's Western Lands strategy and development of OPDC's funding strategy. The commission will directly support the viability and deliverability of the Western Lands approach and provide greater certainty on funding requirements over time.

The proposal and how it will be delivered

OPDC intends to directly procure the services of Newbridge Advisors LLP via TfL's property consultancy framework. Newbridge Advisors have detailed knowledge and experience of working in the OPDC area, having supported the Corporation throughout the early stages of it former strategy. However, the use and justification of a direct procurement route is directly related to the provision within the TfL property consultancy framework which includes direct award of contracts to the highest scoring bidder in the relevant lot.

The procurement process will follow the standard approach set out within the framework direct award; OPDC will issue a scope of works to Newbridge Advisors, requesting a proposal within a specified time period. Following receipt of an acceptable proposal both parties will enter into a Call Off Agreement.

The commission will cover the following work steams:

• Developing an in-house funding model and strategy bringing together infrastructure and development strategies with all available funding sources to target key public sector investment that can be leveraged to accelerate private sector participation.
• Develop framework and project management plan for compiling a SOBC for investment in the Western Lands and developing a phased approach to more detailed business cases in line with the development programme.
• Work with OPDC and its specialist consultants to advise on options for land packaging, acquisition, pooling and/or investment structures to optimise long term returns for the public sector owned land alongside funding support; and
• Preparing supporting material, studies and/or providing financial consultancy services for the preparation of any business case as required. Although OPDC is working closely with Homes England and MHCLG to develop the Western Lands funding requirements, strategy work is progressing ahead of refining the scope and phasing of a package of funding support. This is because some this work - technical infrastructure studies in particular - supports OPDC's Local Plan modifications.

OPDC has positively engaged with MHCLG and Homes England on funding support. However, eligibility for the emerging SHIF has not yet been established. OPDC is also working through its Local Plan modifications as a key step in bringing forward any funding support or direct delivery. As a result, Newbridge is being procured on a call-off contract allowing OPDC to control expenditure in stages. There is therefore no commitment to spend the full budget of £75k.

The objective of the proposal is to establish OPDC's funding and delivery strategy for the Western Lands.

The output will be a series of advice notes and/or short reports focussed on the Western Lands funding and financing strategy and in-house support to develop strategies that can be adopted by OPDC's senior management and board.

The outcome will be an increase in the Corporation's knowledge and understanding of its funding and financing position. In addition, the appointment of Newbridge will strengthen the team's depth in this key area and provide much needed expertise to progress the Western Lands strategy, particularly any future bid for central government funding.

Newbridge Advisors will be appointed for 12 months.

Strategic fit

This proposal supports OPDC's Western Lands strategy; a revised delivery approach which was approved by the Board in January 2020.

OPDC must have 'due regard' to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation as well as to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The outputs from the Newbridge Advisor's consultancy commission, where material to future corporate plans, strategies, policy development, communications, investment/funding requests and delivery plans, which will be subject to equalities assessments at the appropriate time. This will inform how OPDC, the Mayor and other stakeholders can ensure that the investment in HS2 and other public sector assets can be leveraged locally to maximise regenerative impacts and opportunities for local communities.

Newbridge Advisors has an adopted Equal Opportunities Policy.

Project governance and assurance

The Development Director will act as Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for this procurement, and the subsequent management of the Newbridge Advisors contract. Day to Day management of the work will be led by the Senior Development Surveyor.

The SRO will coordinate, control and regularly monitor Newbridge Advisor's instructions and outputs; ensuring that relevant outputs are reported internally. As OPDC is anticipating the opportunity to submit a SHIF application, Newbridge Advisors will only be required to support the application/business case process if OPDC satisfies the relevant MHCLG funding criteria for eligibility. There is therefore no commitment to spend the full budget of £75k.

Risks and issues

The following risks are associated with this proposal:

Use and justification of direct procurement route

OPDC intends to directly procure the services of Newbridge Advisors LLP via TfL's property consultancy framework. The framework includes explicit provision for the direct award of contracts, without the need for a competition, to the highest scoring bidder with specific 'lots'. The contract value must be less than £75k and meet certain conditions (which mainly relate to the level of project risk).

This commission falls within the financial services 'lot', is considered low risk and the value will not exceed the £75K threshold. This decision requests approval, by the CEO, for exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code in the procurement and appointment of Newbridge Advisors.

There are no other considerations that need to be noted in the taking of this decision.

Conflict of interest

No one involved in the preparation or clearance of this Forum, or its substantive proposal, has any conflict of interest.

Expenditure of up to £75,000 will be funded from the Western Lands budget in the Delivery Directorate. This spans across two financial years with anticipated expenditure of £50,000 in 20/21 and £25,000 in 21/22.

Project officer(s) must liaise with TfL Procurement with regards to awarding the contract directly prior to making any contractual commitments. Advice should be sought in how to best secure value for money.

Further expenditure and contract variations are subject to the Corporation's decision making process.

A summary of spend to date within the overall Western Lands budget of £440k is included below:

The report above indicated that the decision requested of the Chief Executive falls within the OPDC's object of securing the regeneration of Old Oak and Park Royal area and its powers to do anything it considers appropriate for the purpose of its objects or purposes incidental to those purposes, as set out in the Localism Act 2011.

In taking the decisions requested, the Chief Executive 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 between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and person who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Chief Executive should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

The services required should be procured in accordance with the OPDC's Contracts and Funding Code by relevant procurement officers. Officers must ensure that appropriate contract documentation is put in place and executed by Newbridge Advisors and OPDC before the commencement of the services.