Issue - meetings

The Leader’s Portfolio

To consider report FIN/453 of the Head of Corporate Finance.

The Leader presented report FIN/453 of the Head of Corporate Finance, which set out the Council’s commitment to support the implementation of the standards outlined in the Unite Construction Charter. The charter commits the Council to achieve the highest standards in respect of direct employment status, health and safety, standards of work, apprenticeship training and the implementation of appropriate nationally agreed terms and conditions of employment, throughout the Council’s key construction projects.

The Leader commented that as the Council was responsible for and procured a significant number of major construction projects, it was important to ensure that the working conditions for workers on site were as high as possible and by signing up to the Charter, it would ensure this would be the case.

It was noted that the report also sort that the Procurement Code be amended to align the Code to the values contained within the Charter.

Councillors Jones, P. Smith and Skudder all spoke as part of the discussion on the report.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet

1)            approves the Council’s commitment to support the implementation of the Unite Construction Charter principles.

2)            delegates authority to the Head of Corporate Finance to take the necessary steps for the implementation of the Unite Construction Charter principles into future relevant construction contracts, subject to an assessment of the implications on a case by case basis. (Generic Delegation 8 will be used to enact this recommendation)

3)            requests that the Head of Corporate Finance in consultation with Head of Legal, Democracy and HR, use their delegation to amend the Procurement Code to incorporate the Unite Construction Charter principles (subject to the approval of recommendation 2.1a). (Generic Delegation 8 will be used to enact this recommendation)

Reasons for the Recommendations

Crawley Borough Council reviews its procurement processes on an ongoing basis, but any major policy change requires further approval. As a local authority, the Council is responsible for the procurement of a multitude of construction projects. It is therefore appropriate to commit support to the principles within the Unite Construction Charter and signing up to the charter represents a commitment to Crawley and the charter’s core principles.

The charter will cover important local authority construction projects including a range of residential, commercial and public realm improvements and commits the Council to achieve the highest standards in respect of direct employment status, health and safety, standards of work, apprenticeship training and the implementation of appropriate nationally agreed terms and conditions of employment.