Agenda item

The Corporate Director of Place to present a report which provides an update on the procurement of the Hostile Vehicle Measures Scheme and seeks approval for delegated authority to enter into a contract for the Scheme, and to bring forward the additional funding required.

Resolved:  (i)      That the general progress on the Hostile Vehicle Measures (HVM) Scheme be noted.

                   (ii)      That authority be delegated to the Director of Transport, Environment & Planning (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to accept the tender based on the evaluation criteria and to take such steps as are necessary to award and enter into the resulting contract.

                   (iii)     That it be noted that the tender received is in excess of the available budget and that an additional £1,750k be approved, to be funded by bringing forward funds from the 2026/27 Highways Maintenance capital programme, to enable award of the contract and to meet the forecast for inflation and the utilities costs.

Reason:     To enable the contract to be awarded in order to commence work to carry out advice received by Police and Security services to protect the city centre from a vehicle borne terrorist attack.

                   (iv)    That City of York Council lobby the Home Secretary to seek financial support with the installation of HVMs and the production of a long term government plan to support councils in implementing their Protect Duty.

Reason:     To ensure local authorities have the resources they need to comply with the additional requirements placed upon them by government.

The Corporate Director of Place presented a report which provided an update on the procurement of the Hostile Vehicle Measures Scheme, and sought approval to enter into a contract for the Scheme and bring forward the additional funding required.

Executive had granted authority to proceed with procurement on 13 January 2022 (Minute 81 of that meeting refers). Following completion of the detailed design, one tender had been received and evaluated.  Due to the increased cost of materials, the identification of new products that better met the risk assessments, and work needed to protect infrastructure, the current budget was no longer sufficient and a further £1.750m was required. Temporary measures would still be needed over the Christmas 2022 period, before work began.  Letters received in support of the Scheme from North Yorkshire Police and Counter Terrorism Policing were attached as Annexes A and B to the report.  Location plans for the measures were attached at Annex C. 

Supt Mark Khan of North Yorkshire Police and Shaun Tunstall, Counter Terrorism Security Advisor at West Yorkshire Police addressed the meeting and responded to Members’ questions.  Supt Khan explained that the current threat assessment had been set by JTAC as ‘substantial’ and that York city centre was particularly vulnerable due to the number of publicly accessible locations within a small area.  Mr Tunstall supported this view, adding that the threat was becoming more unpredictable, and an HVM scheme was needed more in York than in most other cities.

In response to matters raised under Public Participation, officers pointed out that the issues relating to footstreets had already been decided by Executive, and that the cost of the Scheme was small in relation to the total value of the council’s highways assets.   In supporting the recommendations, the Executive Member for Transport highlighted the council’s statutory Protect Duty and the expert advice that formed the basis of the Scheme.  The Chair expressed disappointment that the government had failed to provide support to Local authorities in meeting their statutory duty, and suggested an additional resolution to that effect.

Resolved:  (i)      That the general progress on the Hostile Vehicle Measures (HVM) Scheme be noted.

                   (ii)      That authority be delegated to the Director of Transport, Environment & Planning (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to accept the tender based on the evaluation criteria and to take such steps as are necessary to award and enter into the resulting contract.

                   (iii)     That it be noted that the tender received is in excess of the available budget and that an additional £1,750k be approved, to be funded by bringing forward funds from the 2026/27 Highways Maintenance capital programme, to enable award of the contract and to meet the forecast for inflation and the utilities costs.

Reason:     To enable the contract to be awarded in order to commence work to carry out advice received by   Police and Security services to protect the city centre from a vehicle borne terrorist attack.

                   (iv)    That City of York Council lobby the Home Secretary to seek financial support with the installation of HVMs and the production of a long term government plan to support councils in implementing their Protect Duty.

Reason:     To ensure local authorities have the resources they need to comply with the additional requirements placed upon them by government.