Decisions
12/01/2021 - ACQUISITION OF FORMER HOUSE OF FRASER BUILDING – 92 GRANGE ROAD, BIRKENHEAD ref: 4792 Recommendations Approved
92 Grange Road, Birkenhead (“the
Property”) is situated at the heart of Birkenhead town centre
and therefore forms a key site in respect of enabling any future
redevelopment of the town centre to take place. The Property, shown
edged red on the plan appended to this report as Appendix 1,
includes a car park with 86 spaces and a rear service yard. This
purchase is recommended as this Property is key to enabling the
comprehensive regeneration of Birkenhead town centre which is a
strategic priority for the Council.
The purchase of the Property will increase the Council’s
holdings and influence over the town centre. The Property occupies
a prime gateway site at the entrance to the planning central
business district of Birkenhead, in close proximity to the proposed
redevelopment of Milton Pavements and the residential proposals for
Hind Street.
The acquisition of the Property will enhance the Council’s
existing portfolio, giving it the ability to exercise control of
the future use and development of the site which could influence
the value of existing holdings and projected values of other
Council properties in the area.
The Acquisition of the Property will defend against an alternative
use which could have a negative impact on the development plans for
the town. This is also a defensive acquisition to prevent an
undesirable use or development which could detract from the
Council’s plans to regenerate the area.
Decision Maker: Director: Governance and Assurance (Monitoring Officer)
Decision published: 12/01/2021
Effective from: 12/01/2021
Decision:
The Director of Law and Governance authorises
the completion of the purchase of the property known as the former
House of Fraser Building, 92 Grange Road, Birkenhead from its
current owner Autumn Properties Ltd at a price of £2M.
Lead officer: Philip McCourt
21/12/2020 - Smart Business Project ref: 4791 Recommendations Approved
Decision Maker: Policy and Resources Committee
Made at meeting: 21/12/2020 - Policy and Resources Committee
Decision published: 11/01/2021
Effective from: 21/12/2020
Decision:
Shaer Halewood, Director of Resources introduced a report on the SmartBusiness Project regarding the proposed upgrade of the Council’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
The ERP systems integrated key business processes across Finance, Human Resources (HR), Procurement and other areas. The approach standardised and streamlined procedures to the administration of a number of key business activities. The Council’s current ERP system Oracle 1Business had been in operation since 2005 and was now considered obsolete and a critical risk to the business.
The SmartBusiness Project had gone through extensive Discovery and Design phases, including a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) and Outline Business Case (OBC) which was presented to Cabinet on 24 March 2020 and approval was given to complete a tender and evaluation exercise.
A Full Business Case (FBC) for the SmartBusiness Project, was now being prepared to discuss the future of the Council’s ERP systems and options to replace the current platform. To support the delivery of the SmartBusiness Project FBC, scrutiny by Members was now sought.
Shaer Halewood and Wendy Nicholls, Senior Business Designer, responded to a number of comments from Members and confirmed that a number of presentations had been made from preferred bidders before a preferred supplier had been chosen.
Councillors Moira McLaughlin and Pat Cleary confirmed that they were happy for Members with experience of these systems to sit on the Task and Finish Group and report back to the Committee.
On a motion by the Vice-Chair, seconded by Councillor Chris Carubia, it was -
Resolved – That this Committee:
(a) appoints Members of the Committee , Councillors Chris Carubia, Paul Stuart and one Conservative Member (to be confirmed), to a Task and Finish group to support the development of the FBC;
(b) agrees that a meeting of the Task and Finish Group be held on 6 January 2021 and that the outcomes of that meeting be reported to the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee scheduled to take place on 20 January 2021.