CD179 Western Lands priority objectives & initiation of project management office

Background and context

Western Lands Priority Objectives

The Western Lands project has reached an important milestone: the strategic business case has been established and the project is now transitioning into the delivery phase. As part of this transition, the client group comprising OPDC and Homes England recognises the importance of establishing clear, place-based ambitions and agreeing the specific priority objectives that will sit at the heart of this project. These will guide the project and help ensure it creates places that are livable, sustainable and drive economic benefit.

This commission is not for a spatial masterplan. Rather it will form a central part of the brief and approach to creating the Western Lands Regeneration Strategy and associated master planning which will follow this piece of work.

It is essential that these priority objectives are developed and ‘owned’ by the client group. To facilitate this, OPDC wishes to commission external consultants to support the client group in developing these, and to produce an engaging concise document capturing the outcomes.

Programme Management Office

So OPDC can deliver the activity required in the next phase of the programme’s delivery it will also need to manage increased work, complexity, and risk. This will require OPDC to develop a PMO to manage, coordinate and report on delivery, including to key external stakeholders.

At the current stage of the programme’s development there is the need for an initial discovery and scoping phase to support the management of key short, medium and long-term tasks, consider OPDC’s current capabilities, resources, tools and processes and recommend how the PMO function will need to develop as the project progresses.

Investigations have already been made with a number of different parts of the GLA and other partners to find good practice in dashboard, roadmap and reporting tools. No specific tool has been specified, much of it being excel based. As such some support to implement good practice from the outset is sought.

The proposal and how it will be delivered

Western Lands Priority Objectives

A consultant will be procured by OPDC following an invited tender process. The brief will be sent to a minimum of three suitable consultants, which will be invited to submit a proposal including their methodology, programme, resourcing, fee proposal and evidence of previous relevant experience.

The tender submissions will be reviewed and scored against criteria set out in the brief by a panel comprising officers from OPDC development team and if necessary, interviews will be carried out prior to awarding the contract.

The Western Lands priority objectives will be developed via a series of workshops facilitated by the appointed consultants with the core Western Lands team from OPDC and Homes England. These workshops will explore the opportunities and key ambitions for the project held by the client organisations and seek to synthesise this into a compelling set of around five priority objectives (with the emphasis on limiting the priorities to help with balancing trade-offs and supporting decision making) for the project to be agreed by the OPDC and Homes England teams.

A separate budget of up to £10,000 will be used for graphic design, production and printing of materials developed as part of this project. These services will be procured by compiling competitive quotes from a minimum for three parties with a strong emphasis around using local suppliers in the Park Royal and Old Oak area.

The budget will also be used to ensure the materials can be made accessible including translation or product in other formats as required.

Programme Management Office

A consultant will be procured by OPDC following the provision of technical and fee proposals from a minimum of three suitable consultants. The commission is expected to be below £25,000 and procurement will be undertaken by OPDC.

Submissions will be reviewed by OPDC for both the quality of the technical proposals and value for money.

The consultant will provide resource and expertise to OPDC by placing resource within development team. The consultant will perform and deliver PMO support and develop and implement the appropriate tools for this part of the project which will be used by the project team.

The consultant will also provide expertise on the establishment of a longer-term PMO function within the team including any need for additional internal or consultant support.

Any future consultant support for the PMO or related project management tasks will be subject to further separate procurement.

Objectives and expected outcomes

Western Lands Priority Objectives

The objectives for this work are to establish:

• ‘golden threads’ for the Western Lands project which will guide the project from start to finish
• tools to help manage trade-offs and manage difficult decisions: ‘why are we doing this?’ 'what matters most to us?'
• accessible, engaging, clear communication of an ethos and approach which is ‘owned’ by OPDC/HE.

The expected output from this commission is a clearly articulated, engaging and compelling narrative and set of priority objectives for the Western Lands project. This will support the success of the project by forming the core of the brief for the Western Lands Regeneration Framework commission and helping to secure support from project partners and stakeholders.

The output from the commission will be a short, engaging document with illustrations that captures and communicate the Western Lands ambitions. The document will be used by OPDC and Homes England in a variety of ways, as part of presentations, consultant briefs, developer engagement and community engagement.

Programme Management Office

The objectives for undertaking this work are to:

• provide additional resource and capabilities, with expertise in establishing project delivery functions, to Western Lands development team
• following a short review of the current PMO tools, processes, and techniques to understand their effectiveness for this stage of the project, identify gaps and make recommendations for implementation, including implementing as much as possible in the timeframe
• develop a set of simple, shareable, and easily accessible, PMO reporting tools to allow the effective management of the current work and planning of the work programme for 2022/23
• support OPDC’s wider project mobilisation work by creating a strategy for the development of the PMO function as the project progresses.

Strategic fit

Old Oak is the largest single regeneration project in London that is currently without a strategic investment and development partner. It offers an opportunity for very substantial inward investment to help drive London’s economic recovery and deliver tens of thousands of new homes and jobs. The Western Lands has been identified as the scheme which will unlock this opportunity and is a central priority for OPDC.

This commissions support the successful delivery of the Western Lands project, which is a core focus for OPDC’s work. Specifically, this commissions will ensure that the Western Lands project is focused on creating high quality places in line with the policies set out in the OPDC’s Local Plan and the London Plan’s Good Growth policies, whilst also meeting the policy objectives of borough and government stakeholders. The PMO commission will ensure the mobilisation work is effectively managed.

A strategic outline business case has been submitted to government seeking its support for the scheme, through its major land holdings and potential funding capabilities.

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, 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.

In establishing the key priorities for the project, OPDC and its consultant will have due regard for its equalities obligations, however as this work will not make specific recommendations it is not expected to have any impacts. The production of any engagement materials will consider accessibility requirements.

Project governance and assurance

The work will be managed on a day-to-day basis by the OPDC’s Head of Design (Priority Objectives commission) and the OPDC consultant (PMO work). The Senior Responsible Officer will be the OPDC’s Development Director.

The Western Lands ‘Mobilisation Programme Board’ has been established and is chaired by OPDC’s CEO. This will provide sponsorship and oversight for both commissions.

The work will be guided by the established core Western Lands project client team from OPDC and Homes England, to ensure that the objectives are met, and the outcomes are supported by the entire group.

Other considerations

Communications and engagement

This commission will be primarily focused on engagement with Homes England as a key partner in delivering the Western Lands project, on behalf of HM Government.

It is envisaged that during this process there may be engagement with key project stakeholders such as host boroughs, Department for Transport, HS2 and Network Rail as the major landowner, and the Department for Levelling Up, Homes and Communities if appropriate. OPDC will be seeking input from its host boroughs.

The primary objectives for the Western Lands project established by OPDC and Homes England through this project will create a strong foundation for the extensive engagement which will be undertaken with local communities and landowners as part of the Western Lands Regeneration Strategy. This expected to commence soon after the end of this commission.

Conflicts of interest

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

Expenditure of up to £65,000 on external consultancy services as described in this report will be funded from the 2022/23 Western Lands budget.

The report above indicates that the decision requested of the CEO falls within the OPDC’s object of securing the regeneration of the 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.

The officers have noted at paragraphs 2.1 to 2.6 that the services, which are to be procured with the budget requested in this decision form, will be procured by competitive procurement processes.

Officers are reminded to ensure that appropriate contractual documentation be executed by the service providers and OPDC, before the commencement of the relevant services.

Priority Objectives

PMO Implementation