Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Head of Housing and Health on the tendering of the Upgrading of Air Source Heat Pump Systems Contract 2025 - 2028 for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) properties and confirm the award of the contract.

Cabinet had before it a report * from the Head of Housing and Health on the on the tendering of the Upgrading of Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) Systems Contract 2025 - 2028 for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) properties and confirm the award of the contract.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Upgrading of Air Source Heat Pump Systems Contract 2025 - 2028 with the option to extend to 2029, be awarded to PH Jones Ltd.

2.    Delegated authority to the S151 Officer (in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, Assets and Property) to complete the associated Upgrading Air Source Heat Pump Systems Contract 2025 – 2028 for HRA properties with the option to extend to 2029 be APPROVED.

Cabinet had before it a report * from the Head of Housing and Health on the tendering of the Upgrading of Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) Systems Contract 2025 - 2028 for Housing Revenue Account (HRA) properties to confirm the award of the contract.

The Cabinet Member for Housing, Assets and Property Services outlined the contents of the report with particular reference to the following:

• The report was to advise Cabinet on the outcome of the procurement process to award a contract to maintain and upgrade air source heat pumps systems within the Councils housing stock.
• This Council was an early adopter of ASHP systems with a number installed across stock as a part of a rolling commitment to replace end of life existing traditional heating systems and to reduce the Council's carbon footprint.
• Some of these systems had been installed for over 10 years and in common with all heating systems, required regular maintenance and updating.
• The proposed contract was for two and a half years with a possible one year extension to be delivered by specialist provider PH Jones Limited.
• The contract had been secured through a direct framework award under the approved Public Sector Housing Purchasing Consortium (PFH).
• As such, PH Jones Limited were publicly named on the framework. Any commercially sensitive information and tender evaluation data was held by PFH. There was no requirement for a Part 2 element to this report and it could name the proposed framework contractor at this stage.

Discussion took place with regard to:

• Could this service be provided in-house with suitable training for council staff or was this more specialist work? It was confirmed it was a specialist role.
• Were records kept for information on the efficiency of ASHP over time and also the possible increase in maintenance compared with conventional systems and were there any statistics of such care?
• Was PH Jones a privately owned company or a national group? It was confirmed it was a large national company and could provide more details.
• Could this Council access the same grant as individuals to install one of these pumps which quite commonly came with a 15 year warranty? The Council work closely with Exeter Community Energy and other providers, many grants were not available for Social Housing landlords.

RESOLVED that:

1. The Upgrading of Air Source Heat Pump Systems Contract 2025 - 2028 with the option to extend to 2029, be awarded to PH Jones Ltd.

2. Delegated authority to the S151 Officer (in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing, Assets and Property) to complete the associated Upgrading Air Source Heat Pump Systems Contract 2025 – 2028 for HRA properties with the option to extend to 2029 be APPROVED.

(Proposed by Cllr J Lock and seconded by Cllr J Downes)

Reason for Decision:

The Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) budget for the works was £300,000.00 per annum. Each upgrade and relevant works would be surveyed and fully costed prior to a works order being issued.

Note:* Report previously circulated.