By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Mansfield District Council will spend more than £126,000 extending a security contract to provide a ‘waking watch’ at its London investment building.
The authority bought the building, in Clapham, in January 2017 at a cost of £5.95m so it could use rental income to help shore up frontline services.
However, fire safety assessments in the wake of the June 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster identified ‘a number of’ problems.
In total, the authority expects to spend about £20m bringing the safety issues right between 2018 – when the problems first came to light – and March 2025.
Part of the work requires a 24-hour ‘waking watch’ security firm to be on-site in the event of a fire breaking out.
This is due to the fire strategy on the building being changed to ‘simultaneous evacuation’ in the event of a blaze due to issues within the building that could allow a fire to spread.
The authority handed the security contract to firm Support Services Group Ltd (SSG) in November 2021, and it expired in February this year.
This was part of almost £900,000 of spending on the building by the authority between 2018 and the end of the 2021 to 2022 financial year last March.
Now the authority is due to extend the contract by a further six months while it conducts a proper procurement on the security contract ahead of major repair works.
Dawn Edwards, the council’s head of finance and section 151 officer, is due to approve the £126,561.60 contract extension during a delegated decision on Friday (May 19).
In a report published ahead of the decision, Philip Colledge, the authority’s corporate asset manager, said: “The council purchased 50-52 Bedford Road, Clapham in January 2017.
“Following receipt of advice in respect of post-completion fire compartmentation, it has been necessary to temporarily change the fire strategy from ‘stay put’ to ‘simultaneous evacuation’ and, in doing so to introduce a 24/7 waking watch and install a common fire alarm system.
“The waking watch involves security patrolling the building at regular intervals to raise the alarm and assist with the evacuation of residents in the event of a fire.
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“These services will be required until the building has been remediated, [with] the costs being funded by the council.
“SSG was awarded the contract after a procurement process [in November 2021].
“The initial 12-month contract period expired on February 2, 2023. SSG’s performance has been satisfactory.
“Whilst there was provision in the original contract to extend the term by a further six months, this was not exercised before the original contract expired.
“It is proposed that a further six-month contract be awarded to SSG for a cost of £126,561.60 to maintain the security services on site whilst a new procurement process is undertaken.”
It comes after the authority confirmed remediation work on the building, at 50-52 Bedford Road, near Clapham North tube station, has been delayed again.
The building, which includes business space on the ground floor and 40 flats above, was initially due to receive repairs in August last year.
However, the council submitted documents to Lambeth Building Control which were rejected after the authority did not provide sufficient information about how the works would meet fire safety regulations.
This meant the project was initially delayed until May 2023, with a contract approved earlier this year to begin removing residents from their homes this month.
This £2.2m contract was handed to London-based estate agency Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and would fund the relocation of all 40 properties inside.
That included the authority committing to paying all relocation fees and storage costs for tenants and leaseholders so the work can begin.
Once emptied, the walls, floors and ceilings are expected to be ripped out so the building can be rebuilt internally, while exterior cladding work is also proposed.
However, the authority confirmed last week that this will no longer take place this month as it is still waiting for building control approval and for a contractor for the wider works to be approved.
It described the project as “complex” and said it has told residents their relocation will now not take place until “at least September” this year.
A council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on May 11: “Given the magnitude of this project and the various elements we are piecing together, the timetable for the works to begin is fluid.
“At present, we have updated residents in our most recent newsletter to say that decanting works will not commence until at least September 2023.
“The council, as a responsible landlord, has always put safety first for the residents at Bedford Road and will continue to do so until the remedial works at the property are completed.”
