Decision details

IBC entered into a bespoke Grant Determination Agreement (GDA) with Homes England (dated 02.10.19) to secure the £9,868,351 of Housing Infrastructure Funding (HIF) to deliver strategic infrastructure of a Country Park and two railway bridges at the Ipswich Garden Suburb (IGS). Crest Nicholson is the delivery partner for the infrastructure items as part of its development of the Henley Gate neighbourhood at IGS.

IBC need to undertake due diligence when reviewing Crest Nicholson’s funding claims to ensure compliance with the legal agreements.

There is not the internal expertise within IBC to undertake all of this work and as such the services of a Quantity Surveyor to assess, review and report on the financial development costs of delivering the HIF Funded Infrastructure have been sought.

An open market tender process has been undertaken using the Homes England Multi-Disciplinary Framework. Tenders were sought from six suppliers. Given the nature and the timeframe only one tender was received.

This has set a total cost of £52,964.47 (excluding VAT but including normal expenses and disbursement). This has been assessed as a reasonable price for the services required.

The cost of the work will be sought to be covered by Homes England Capacity Funding or recovered by Crest Nicholson under the terms of the agreement between IBC and Crest Nicholson.

To award the contract to Faith and Gould (part of the Atkins Group) to a value of £52,964.47 for relevant services.

Reason:

To ensure due diligence is undertaken by IBC in assessing funding claims by Crest Nicholson before a funding claim is made to Homes England. This is to ensure that HIF monies are used correctly and providing the necessary evidence required for the grant funding claims. As well as ensuring IBC are not in breach of State Aid or UK Subsidy Control. These three pieces of infrastructure are essential to support the delivery of housing at the Ipswich Garden Suburb.