PFI PPP Safety Audit

The request was partially successful.

Dear Enfield Council,

This request for information is an attempt to seek reassurance about the safety of public buildings in the light of the findings revealed in the Inquiry commissioned following the collapse of a school building wall in Edinburgh and subsequent closure of 17 schools.
Please answer the following for each PFI/PPP schemes in the local authority area treating each scheme as a separate request.
Please provide all documents showing how your organisation has responded to the findings contained in the report on Edinburgh Schools Construction by John Cole: including, but not limited to memos, emails, minutes, reports.
I would like to understand the expertise and resource committed by your organisation to the management and oversight of PFI schemes from procurement through to ongoing contract operation. Please provide documents relating to the PFI Team(s) allocated to each project its makeup and structure of the team during each project phase. This may comprise terms of reference, organisation chart, post titles and role profiles.
Provide the deed of appointment for the Independent Certifier and any other documents setting out the scope of that role. Please confirm the level of indemnity insurance and liability period.
Please confirm whether your organisation employed a member of the Institute of Clerk of Works or an inspector of similar standing and assigned them to each construction site. If someone in this role was employed please confirm their level of qualification, the salary associated with this role and how much time was allocated to per project/site.
Please provide a list of all enforcement or improvement notices served; investigations carried out and reports commissioned into fire safety (include dates and specify who commissioned or issued these) Please provide copies of all items listed.
Provide details of all attempts to make deductions relating to structural defects for each project. Confirm the amount, what it was for, and when the deduction was made.t

Yours faithfully,

Megan Ingles

complaintsandinformation, Enfield Council

Thank you for your email.

We will respond as soon as possible.

Regards,

Complaints and Access to Information Team,
Enfield Council.

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Dear Enfield Council,

By law you should have responded to my request within 20 working days. These have now elapsed and I have not heard from you either with a response or an explanation for the delay or request for an extension. Please can you write to me immediately, letting me know why this is the case and also responding to my original request.

Yours faithfully,

Megan Ingles

complaintsandinformation, Enfield Council

2 Attachments

Classification: OFFICIAL

Dear Ms Ingles

 

Thank you for your on line enquiry dated 12 June 2017 dated where you
requested information about School buildings and PFI schemes.

 

Request

  Please provide all documents showing how your organisation has responded
to the findings contained in the report on Edinburgh Schools Construction
by John Cole: including, but not limited to memos, emails, minutes,
reports.

  I would like to understand the expertise and resource committed by your
organisation to the management and oversight of PFI schemes from
procurement through to ongoing contract operation. Please provide
documents relating to the PFI Team(s) allocated to each project its makeup
and structure of the team during each project phase. This may comprise
terms of reference, organisation chart, post titles and role profiles.

  Provide the deed of appointment for the Independent Certifier and any
other documents setting out the scope of that role. Please confirm the
level of indemnity insurance and liability period.

  Please confirm whether your organisation employed a member of the
Institute of Clerk of Works or an inspector of similar standing and
assigned them to each construction site. If someone in this role was
employed please confirm their level of qualification, the salary
associated with this role and how much time was allocated to per
project/site.

  Please provide a list of all enforcement or improvement notices served;
investigations carried out and reports commissioned into fire safety
(include dates and specify who commissioned or issued these)  Please
provide copies of all items listed.

  Provide details of all attempts to make deductions relating to
structural defects for each project. Confirm the amount, what it was for,
and when the deduction was made.t

 

Response

 

As soon as the Authority Representative for the three school PFI and the
single school PFI contracts became aware of the  incident I Edinburgh this
was immediately escalated to senior managers and proceeded to contact the
Provider asking for reassurances for the building integrity of our
schools.  This was raised at school contractual meetings also and the
Provider and their Board undertook to commission independent surveys of
all 4 Enfield schools.

 

Following collapse of a school building wall in Edinburgh and, as a
precautionary measure, in May 2016 ESE2L (Education Support Enfield 2) and
ESEL (Education Support Enfield) appointed Building Design Consultants and
Sandberg LLP, an independent professional and technical services 
consultant providing testing and evaluation of quality and performance of
building methods and materials, to undertake localised, intrusive and
scanning surveys at all 4 Enfield schools.  These were carried out in June
and July 2016.

 

Visual surveys, review of design and 'as built' documentation had also 
been completed.

 

The Schools reports concluded that the external brickwork did not exhibit
any material signs of damage or distress based upon the carried out
investigations and that no immediate issues for concern were found.

Emails, meeting minutes and report are not attached as these relate beyond
this issue and to third parties as they contain the wider business of the
contract terms. Only internal emails sent between LBE officers are
attached herewith as evidence that LBE acted as swiftly as it was made
known to us.

 

LBE contracts are 17 years and 13 years respectively. Information
regarding the construction phase is no longer available.

 

We are attempting to locate this information for you and will provide it
to you as soon as possible.

 

We can confirm that no member of the Institute of Clerk of Works was
employed by LBE in relation to the projects.

 

Our records indicate that no enforcement or improvement notices from the
either the HSE or London fire Brigade have been issued/received.

 

LBE has made no attempt to make deductions relating to the structural
defect for each project, as none has been identified.

 

I can confirm that the London Borough of Enfield holds this information.

 

If you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the
right to ask for an internal review. Internal review requests should be
submitted within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your
original letter and should be addressed to:

 

Complaints and Access to Information Team

Email – [1][Enfield Council request email]

 

Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF

 

Kind Regards

 

Theresa Willard

Complaints and Access to Information Coordinator- Gateway Services

Finance, Resources and Customer Services

Enfield Council

Thomas Hardy House

39 London Road

Enfield

EN2 6DS

 

Email: [2][email address]

 

‘Enfield Council is committed to serving the whole borough fairly,
delivering excellent services and building strong communities.’

 

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Classification: OFFICIAL

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