Joint Fleet Workshop – Progression to Full Business Case (FBC)

Report reference number:: 086 – 23
Classification:: Official
Title of report:: Joint Fleet Workshop – Progression to Full Business Case (FBC)
Area of county / stakeholders affected:: Forcewide
Report by:: Jon Wilson – Head of Collaboration (ECFRS & EP)
Date of report:: 01.06.23
Enquiries to:: [email protected]

1. Executive Summary

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS) has been working in partnership with Essex Police (EP) to review the opportunity of a joint Fire and Rescue and Police Fleet Workshop to be located at the Essex Police site in Boreham.

Following the completion of the Strategic Outline Case (SOC), Outline Business Case (OBC) and Phase 1 of the Full Business Case (FBC), which explored the operating model options for a joint fleet workshop, the next stage is to commission professional services to develop the FBC.

For this, the Estates team has engaged with and received a proposal from our estate delivery partners, Bailey Garner, who have identified a specialist sub-contractor to support in completing the commission, who have proven experience in this area and are able to deliver the FBC by December 2023.

2. Recommendations

The first recommendation is to proceed with commissioning the production of a FBC
by Bailey Garner and their sub-contractor Inner Circle Consulting with an expected delivery date of December 2023. The total fee for the FBC will be £122,540 to be funded 50/50 between EP and ECFRS.
Note: This follows the OBC with an estimated capital cost of £18,000,000 with a working assumption of a 50/50 contribution between EP and ECFRS which will be explored as part of the FBC and final recommendation.

The second recommendation is to appropriate £61,270 from the Transformation Reserve to revenue allocated to the Estate Services professional fees budget to fund the business case.
Note: There is £175,000 allocated within the Transformation Reserve. The remaining funds will be kept within the reserve for any further surveys or investigations required to reduce the cost risk as part of the FBC.

The PFCC is asked to note that the FBC will be based on an operating model of two organisations working within a single new fleet workshop at Boreham, overseen by a joint management structure, with the building belonging to a Joint Venture (JV)company.

3. Background to the Proposal

A SOC was completed for ECFRS and EP in June 2019 looking at the opportunities of a combined fleet workshop and long list options available. Subsequently an OBCwas undertaken against the short list options and was completed in December 2019.

Following the OBC, two options were brought forward. Option 1a involves both EP and ECFRS locating on the Boreham site, with EP housed in a refurbished workshop and ECFRS in a new-build workshop, whilst Option 1b has EP and ECFRS locating at the Boreham site, housed in a joint, single, new-build workshop. In order to provide a benchmark to options 1a and 1b, the ‘do minimum’ option is for both EP to remain on their site at Boreham and ECFRS to remain on their separate site at Lexden.

A previous condition survey undertaken in 2014 stated the EP premises required arguably as much refurbishment as Lexden, which has been deemed in need of refurbishment since 2004. Both locations require either considerable refurbishment or rebuilding of their respective premises to bring them to a good standard to meet future needs.

The project is now ready to progress to the FBC stage, and engagement of a specialist consultant to undertake the FBC for submission in December 2023. The FBC will set out the next level of detail, enabling a higher degree of certainty in decision making.

As the OBC was completed in 2019, there will be a need to revisit the strategic case in light of new agile ways of working following Covid-19, inflationary pressures, rising interest rates and decarbonisation. The economic case should also be refreshed to quantify the broader economic benefits of the relocation and further quantify net zero benefits. The financial case, commercial case, and management cases will also
require updating to reduce the cost of risk, detail the procurement process, revisit funding options, set out the contractual engagement and ensure the deal is still affordable. The FBC will also bring together the work undertaken previously by a specialist HR consultancy on the operating model options with further cost / benefits assessment undertaken.

4. Proposal and Associated Benefits

The proposal is to deliver a FBC which utilises and flexibly applies the Treasury Greenbook Five Case Model as a consistent, widely recognised, and robust methodology for business cases. Preparing a business case using the ‘five case’ model provides decision makers and stakeholders with a proven framework for structured ‘thinking’ and assurance that the project:

➢ Provides strategic fit and is supported by a compelling case for change.
➢ Will maximise public value through the selection of the optimal combination of
components, products, and related activities.
➢ Is commercially viable and attractive to the supply side.
➢ Is affordable and fundable over time.
➢ Can be delivered successfully by the organisation and its partners.

The current EP workshop at Boreham and the ECFRS workshop at Lexden have been identified for several years as requiring replacement. Both buildings are of an old design with significant challenges in terms of improvement opportunities due to their age and construction. It is essential to the long-term delivery of both Fleet Services that investment is made.

5. Options Analysis

The options set out below only relate to undertaking the FBC.

Recommended Option
➢ Appoint Bailey Garner through the EP 7F Multi-Disciplinary Construction Consultancy Framework. The fee proposal provides value for money and is compliant with our Financial Regulations and Contract Standing Orders. Bailey Garner is also undertaking master planning proposals in relation to the Boreham site.

Discounted Options

Both of the following options have been discounted based on the additional time required to undertake a procurement exercise albeit the Crown Commercial Services framework would be slightly shorter than an open tender exercise, particularly when there is already a compliant route to market against our existing framework.
➢ Undertake an open tender exercise to appoint a specialist company to complete
the FBC.
➢ Utilise the Crown Commercial Services Framework RM6187 Lot 1 –
Management Consultancy Framework Three (MCF3) to appoint a specialist
company to complete the FBC. There are 79 suppliers against the Lot that would be utilised, although there are options either to run a “further competition” or to “direct award”.

6. Consultation and Engagement

The consultation set out below only relates to undertaking the FBC, as the preferred option for progression has already been agreed through Decision Report PFCC/113/22:
7F Procurement
EP Chief Officers
ECFRS SLT
Briefing sessions have been held for ECFRS and EP Fleet staff by Fire and Rescue Service and Police Directors on the strategic ambition for a collaborative fleet workshop and estimated timescales. When the FBC has been completed, formal engagement will take place with the respective Unison branches for Police and Fire and Rescue.

7. Strategic Links

This proposal to deliver the FBC further supports the priorities identified within the Essex Police Estates Strategy 2018-2023 as listed below, clearly one of the strongest priorities being that of collaborating with our partners. This is a fantastic opportunity and has a number of other anticipated benefits which will be drawn out and identified further within the construct of the FBC. It is also clear that this can only lead to
improving our ability to make best use of resources and aid our ability to continue to provide an effective and efficient estate to support our workforce by providing capability through robust and efficient management of fleet and equipment resources.
➢ To create an ambitious collaboration programme with emergency services and
other partners that will enhance our ability to achieve service benefits and
stretch our property performance targets for the efficiency of the estate.
➢ To provide accommodation that responds to the demands of modern policing,
embracing the digital and cultural enablers that allow us to reduce our physical
footprint.
➢ To drive improvements to the economy, efficiency, effectiveness and
sustainability of our estate, releasing much needed financial resources for reinvestment in the priorities of our police service.
➢ The Boreham site / accommodation requires investment and now in our
ownership, will enable us to investment in the site to intensify our use for various
specialist facilities in the long term

8. Police operational implications

The specification outputs required from the FBC will be jointly developed between
Essex Police and the Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. This will be led by EP’s
Director of Support Services and ECFRS’s Director of Corporate Services. There will
also be key stakeholder involvement with the support of the respective Heads of Fleet,
Heads of Property Services / Estates and respective Heads of HR. Staff at both Fleet

Workshops have been engaged with and are aware of the need for the development
of a new joint collaborative fleet workshop FBC.
The representative bodies will be engaged in early conversations and consultation and
discussions will continue as the FBC is developed.

9. Financial implications

The total fee for the FBC will be £122,540. The costs for the FBC will be funded 50/50 between EP and ECFRS, therefore the cost for EP will be £61,270. There is £175,000 allocated within the Transformation Reserve. The recommendation is to appropriate £61,270 from the reserve to the Estate Services professional fees budget to fund the business case. The remaining funds of £113,730 will be kept within the reserve for any further surveys or investigations required to reduce the cost risk as part of the FBC.

To date EP and ECFRS have jointly spent in the region of £230,000, shared on a 50/50 basis on the development of an options appraisal, OBC and further work on an operating models appraisal. This has been cost shared 50/50 between ECFRS and EP. The development of the new business case will also be shared between EP and the ECFRS.

The high-level capital estimate of £18,093,765 was detailed within the Outline Business Case and 50% of this has been allocated within the Essex Police capital programme with £9,000,000 added to the programme through approval of decision report PFCC/161/22.

10. Legal Implications

There are no adverse legal implications arising from this decision report. Following approval of the recommendations, EP will award a call-off contract against the existing framework in place to deliver the FBC. In accordance with the Financial Regulations and Contract Standing Orders, this is within delegated consent to the Chief Constable.

11. Staffing implications

The Joint Fleet Workshops Board is established with clear Terms of Reference which helps guide and inform all aspects of this joint proposal as it moves forward. Engagement with representative bodies will continue to take place throughout the development of the FBC and future proposed progression.

12. Equality and Diversity implications

An EIA is not deemed to be required for the decision sought but will be undertaken as part of the overall FBC and any recommendation following its conclusion.

13. Risks and Mitigations

Decision Related Risks:
There are little or no risks in undertaking the recommendations within this decision report. Funding has been allocated and the appointment complies with the Financial Regulations and Contract Standing Orders.

There is a risk that if the FBC is not agreed when presented that the total business case investment of Circa £352,540 would need to be written off, albeit this would be 50% for EP and ECFRS.

If the recommendations are not agreed, there is a high probability that we will be unable to complete the FBC within the required timescales for December 2023. Either a procurement process would be required to appoint an alternative specialist supplier to undertake the FBC or we would not progress to FBC.

Project Related Risks:
A risk register has been created for the project and the project team will report regularly on the key risks identified during project meetings. These will form an element of the overall FBC to inform the next stage of decision making.

14. Governance Boards

Chief Officer Group (Police) – 31st May 2023
Senior Leadership Team (Fire and Rescue)
Strategic Board (Fire) – 8th June 2023
Strategic Board (Police) – 21st June 2023

15.Links to Future Plans

The proposal deals with a significant part of the overall Boreham masterplan and
Essex Police Estate Strategy.

16.Background Papers and Appendices

Appendix 1
Decision Report PFCC.113.22 – Joint Fleet Workshop Proposal at Boreham Complex – OFFICIAL (already published)
113-22-Fleet-Workshop-v0.08-signed Redacted.pdf (pfcc.police.uk)

Appendix 2
Decision Report PFCCFRA.045.22 – Joint Fleet Workshop Proposal at BorehamcComplex – OFFICIAL (already published)
045-22-Fleet-Workshops-v1-signed-002.pdf (pfcc.police.uk)
Appendix 3
Decision Report PFCC.161.22 – Estate Strategy and adjustments to the Five-YearcCapital Plan – OFFICIAL (to be published)
Appendix 4
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service – Estate Strategy 2021-2026
9a.-ECFRS-Estates-Strategy-FINAL-310821.pdf (pfcc.police.uk)
Appendix 5
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service – Fire & Rescue Plan 2019-2024
fire and rescue plan.pdf (essex-fire.gov.uk)