Decisions

The report recommends approving the procurement strategy for the procurement of the Council’s Microsoft Enterprise Licencing Agreement, Microsoft Azure Cloud Services and Microsoft Unified Support contract.

The contract with the incumbent supplier ends in June 2025 and does not allow any further extensions.

The provision of a Microsoft Enterprise Subscription will allow the Council to obtain licences for the use of Microsoft software which will enable it to continue to benefit from the Office 365 suite of productivity, collaboration and communication tools such as Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. It is also vital to the council as it enables the Council to administer back-office functions and the licences are required to transform the ICT estate enabling efficiencies from the application of new technology.

The provision of Microsoft Azure Cloud Services will provide continuity for cloud computing. Majority of the council systems sit on and rely on Microsoft Azure therefore, if there is a risk of the subscription being terminated or paused preventing access to council IT systems, this will result in an inability for the council to function effectively if this is not retendered.

Failure to renew these agreements will result in critical software and systems becoming inoperable. With the current climate of working from home, this could result in more support requirements from our outsourced IT support provider, involving additional costs.

2.1 Approve the procurement strategy which will lead to 3 related contracts as follows:

a)    Microsoft Enterprise Licencing Agreement for a duration of 3-years from 1 July 2025 until 30 June 2028 with an estimated total value of £3,300,000.

b)    Microsoft Azure Cloud Services for a duration of 3-years from 1 July 2025 until 30 June 2028 with an estimated total value of £2,500,000.

c)    Microsoft Unified Support contract for a duration of 3-years from 1 June 2026 until 31 May 2029 with an estimated total value of £200,000.

This report will set out the outcome of the procurement process that the Council has undertaken in relation to the appointment of the Demolition Contractor for the Regina Road Regeneration Project in accordance with the procurement strategy approved by the Executive Mayor in Cabinet on 26^th July 2023 ref: PB-2324-000005-S.

2.1The Corporate Director of Housing is recommended by the Chair of CCB with the approval of the Cabinet Members for Finance and for Homes to:

2.2 approve the award of a contract for the provision of Demolition and Site Clearance Services for Phases 1a and 1b of the Regina Road Regeneration to a maximum value as stated in the Tender Report (Part B) to the Successful bidder (Supplier E) (identified in Part B)

2.3 approve that, in the event the first-place Bidder seeks to renegotiate the commercial terms of the contract, the award may be withdrawn from the first-place Bidder and awarded to the second-place Bidder (Supplier A) and for the contract value identified in Part B.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED to;

2.1 Consider and respond to the comments received from Scrutiny and Overview on the 19th November relating to the draft Statement of Principles 2025-2028;

2.2 Endorse the recommendations from Licensing Committee that the draft Statement of Principles 2025-2028, under the Gambling Act 2005 as set out at Appendix 5, be presented to Full Council for adoption.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED to;

1. Approve the responses and action plans attached to this report in Appendices 1, 2, 3 & 4;

2. Delegate authority to the officers identified in Appendices 1, 2, 3 & 4 to report back to the Scrutiny and Overview Committee, or relevant Sub-Committee, within the periods specified in the agreed responses and action plans, and on progress made in implementing any action plan.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED to;

2.1 Agree the Housing Supply & New Build Framework (HSNBF) attached as Appendix A and which will be the basis for understanding and evaluating substantial investment in Croydon’s Housing Estates.

2.2 Note, that each new scheme considered for development and investment will be subject to Council decision-making, procurement processes and resident consultation.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED;

2.1 To agree the 2025/26 to 2027/28 (three years) Local Implementation Plan Delivery Plan including programmes and schemes and attached as Appendix B, to be submitted to Transport for London to grant Local Implementation Plan (LIP) funding for 2025/26.

2.2 To agree to delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery (in consultation with the Executive Mayor and the Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment), to finalise and approve the LIP three Year Delivery Plan for 2025/26 to 2027/28 for submission to TfL, making any necessary adjustments to the three year Delivery Plan following TfL’s feedback and prior to final submission by the Council to TfL by 13th February 2025.

2.3 To agree to implement the LIP three year Delivery Plan subject to confirmation of TfL funding being granted.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED to;

2.1 Note the progress made in the first six months of the "Future Croydon" Transformation Plan (2024-2029) at set out in Appendix 1.

2.2 Note progress made in the Council Improvement Plan (2022-2027) as set out in Appendix 2.

The Executive Mayor and Cabinet, RESOLVED;

2.1 to note the General Fund revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend at financial year end by £19.8m at Period 5, after the budgeted utilisation of £38m capitalisation directions requested from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), utilisation of the £5.0m risk contingency budget and utilisation of £13.0m corporate earmarked reserves.

2.2 to note that all service directorates have been asked to reduce their net expenditure so that the annual budget can be balanced at the end of the year through the in-year Financial Recovery Plan as set out from paragraph 4.8.

2.3 to note the progress in Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings achievement of £21.9m (79.1%) against the total savings target of £27.7m as set out in paragraph 4.133.

2.4 to note the work that is continuing on the Council’s Transformation Programme as set out from paragraph 4.131.

2.5 to note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) revenue budget outturn is forecast to overspend by £8.0m.

2.6 to note the General Fund capital programme 2024-25 forecast underspend of £18.8m against the revised capital budget of £118.5m.

2.7 to note the HRA capital programme 2024-25 forecast underspend of £8.3m against the capital budget of £57.2m.

2.8 to note the Council’s historic borrowing and subsequent debt burden continues to be critical to the non-sustainability of the Council’s revenue budget as set out from para 4.154. Dialogue with MHCLG continues around options of further financial support from Government in regard to the level of structural indebtedness to ensure the Council can deliver sustainable Local Government services.

2.9 to note that the Council continues to operate Spend Control Panels, and tightened the criteria from July 2024, to ensure that stringent financial control and assurance oversight are maintained.

2.10 to note that current forecasts are based on the best available information at the time and will be subject to review and change during the financial year