Decision details

Agreed that:-

the Director of Adult Social Services, Rashpal Bishop is delegated to approve the tender award that has been undertaken by SMBC procurement to commence building the additional warehouse storage at Joint Equipment Stores.

The Joint Partnership Board (JPB) was asked to fund a maximum non-recurrent cost of £687,500 from the Better Care Fund (BCF) to establish an additional Stores warehouse to manage increased demand for community equipment.

The Board agreed one-off investment of up to £687.5k to develop additional warehouse provision at Dolton Way (council owned site so no rent to pay) to provide additional capacity to manage the increased volumes of equipment.

Following the agreed investment, a procurement process following Councils Rules and Regulations was undertaken and 6 tenders received. Following moderation scoring, the highest ranked tender has been scoped and is estimated at £810,749, an increase of £123,249. The outcome of the procurement exercise and the request for additional funding was submitted to Joint Partnership Board on the 31 August 2023. The estimated timeline for the build can commence September 2023 and it is indicated completion by March 2024, within the current financial year. This will also guarantee the full cost of the build does not increase any further.

The Joint Equipment Stores growth continues to impact on current warehouse resources and the volume of equipment requests being received and responded to are increasing month by month. Other options have been confirmed, including building another warehouse in an additional location, but this was dismissed due to the challenges of distribution and delivery.

Current storage to be replaced is Unit 3, Oldbury Road Industrial Estate, which currently has a chargeable annual rental £13,643.84 and 8 leased containers 6M x 2.4M on site at Joint Equipment Stores with a chargeable annual rental £9,35232. These leases will cease once the new warehouse is built.