Warmer Homes - Local Authority Delivery - Project Management & Delivery Administration Services

Portsmouth City Council - the 'Council' - in partnership with AgilityEco Services Ltd - the 'Supplier' - has successfully secured further Local Authority Delivery grant funding to the value of £6,027,497 from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's (BEIS) Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme, round 1B. The securing of this funding builds upon previous funding which the Council and the Supplier successfully secured in October 2020 from BEIS to the value of £3,100,500 under round 1A of the LAD scheme. The round 1B funding will be used to extend the scheme to provide 914 additional domestic households with energy efficiency measures, including the addition of offering solar PV. The additional funding also allows for extension of overall scheme operation from March 2021 to the end of September 2021, and is open to a much wider cohort of properties in the city; including SAP rated band D properties, which make up approximately 40% of Portsmouth's homes. The properties treated will have some of the lowest EPCs ratings in the city and consortium areas, with the currently poor energy efficiency of these properties is likely to lead to the threat of fuel poverty. Fuel poverty has been identified in Portsmouth and nationally as a key contributor to chronic ill health, excess winter death and poor economic engagement and attainment from affected households. It is of strategic importance to the city to address fuel poverty where remedies are possible. This project will continue to support other partner authorities already engaged with round 1A of the scheme, as well as further additional councils who have subsequently engaged under round 1B. The participating authorities are as follows: • Portsmouth CC • Gosport BC • Havant and East Hampshire DC • Southend-on-Sea BC • Peterborough CC • Rutland CC • West Sussex CC • Eastleigh Borough Council • Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council In accordance with the grant funding application submitted to BEIS the Council has commissioned the Supplier to undertake Project Administration Activities and Customer Process Management Activities required for effective delivery of the scheme in accordance with the stated grant conditions. The activities can be summarised as follows: 1) Project Administration Activities: a) Supporting the Council in managing its Recipient Agreement with the Grant Funder; b) Maintaining a CRM database; c) Maintaining a list of approved contractors; d) Provision of management information; e) Setting up and supporting a project Steering Group; f) Marketing and promotion; g) Securing, maximising and receiving the matched funding; h) Tracking milestones; i) Administering finances; j) Preparing quarterly Funding Use Reports; k) Requesting and receiving funds; l) Change control; m) Preparing the Project Closure Report. 2) Customer process management activities: a) Taking initial enquiries and applications from the public; b) Accepting and managing referrals; c) Carrying out eligibility checks; d) Referring the household to LEAP or alternative fuel poverty outreach scheme; e) Liaising with the relevant distribution network operator (DNO); f) Referring the household to the appropriate contractor(s) for a technical survey of the property, pre-install EPC, the actual install of the measures and engaging with the contractor(s) to overcome any identified issues; g) Liaising with the household to confirm the terms and conditions for the scheme and issue them with a voucher to cover the costs of the work; h) Tracking each household's progress through the process; i) Offering continuous communication with the householders; j) Ensuring contractors undertake all post-install EPCs; k) Ensuring all required compliance documentation, guarantees and warranties are in order for all completed jobs; l) Dealing with any other issues and complaints that arise. The Council will commission these activities from the Supplier via variation of the existing contract between the parties for the provision of activities associated with round 1A which was entered into in October 2020 for an approx. term of 6 months and at an estimated value of £182,500. The technical scope of the round 1A activities included for within this contract are identical to those required for delivery of round 1B. The cost for delivery of the activities associated with round 1B is £568,118 over the additional 6 month delivery programme bringing the overall estimated value of the contract to £750,618.