THURROCK Council is set to give its housing maintenance contractor a £22.8million increase in funds.
The council says increased work volumes and inflationary pressures justify the increase for Mears Ltd, which carries out repairs and maintenance on its social housing stock.
The council has also had to carry extra fire safety measures in its homes following the Grenfell fire tragedy in 2017, placing an extra burden on Mears’ original contract agreement.
The council said it had to implement enhanced fire detection programmes including upgrades to detection systems in communal areas, accelerated roll out of fire doors programmes and smoke and heat detection systems upgrades, adding an additional £3million to the contract.
Electrical works carried out to regulation standards have added another £4million to the contract with Mears said to be carrying out 1,000 jobs a year outside its price per property agreement
The council entered into a five-year contract with Mears in 2014. This was later extended for another five years and is due to expire in February 2025. The contract was worth £60million over the ten year period. By the end of this financial year, £57.4million of that will have been spent. The contract won’t be renewed in 2025 and the council has ruled out an early procurement for a new contractor
The contract is based on price per property, which equates to Mears attending on average three repairs per council housing property per year.
The forecasted spend for the remaining two years of the contract for 2023/24 is £8,654,000 and for 2024/25 it is £9,174,000 with total expenditure forecasted to be £22,828,000
A report to cabinet, which will meet on Wednesday, said: “There is a risk to the delivery of the repairs and maintenance contract if funds are not secured to meet the projected costs.
“Should this be the case, there will be a deterioration of living standards for residents as well as the deterioration of properties.
It will also mean the council will not meet its landlord obligations under the Fitness for Human Habitation Act with implications for all protected groups with some, potentially, more disadvantaged than others including as a consequence of age and disability.”
