Councillor Burton, the Leader of the Council, introduced a report seeking agreement to the allocation of funding for a professional team to support the Council in the preparation of the Maidstone Town Centre Strategy and delegated authority for the appointment of the preferred supplier.  It was noted that delivery of the Strategy needed a wide range of expertise.  The Council had established a project team but experience with other projects had demonstrated the benefits of complementing the internal team with external professional expertise to provide specialist knowledge, skills and capacity.  The proposal was to select a professional team with recent expertise in delivering such a piece of work.  Funding was already in place for work on and delivery of the Strategy.  Since some of this funding was time-limited, it was necessary to progress the procurement process time-efficiently whilst equally ensuring good quality.

In introducing the report, the Leader of the Council advised the Committee that he was minded to amend the scope of the brief for the work particularly around improved access to the Lockmeadow area to provide flexibility.

In response to comments and questions:

The Leader of the Council explained that:

·  Subject to the allocation of funding, the subsequent procurement process evaluations would emphasise quality and recent relevant experience as to what would be best for Maidstone.

·  Market engagement had provided a range in the cost of the professional expertise required to produce the Town Centre Strategy and a delivery plan which varied depending on several factors.  There needed to be engagement with the public and key stakeholders such as Kent County Council, Mid-Kent College, local businesses and the Police to develop ideas for the Strategy which would, for example, inform strategic planning policy.

The Director of Regeneration and Place advised the Committee that there would be a full procurement process teasing out the ideas of people in the market who would be undertaking the work.  It was important not to enter this with pre-defined ideas; the brief would change realistically.

During the discussion, Members supported the proposals to secure extra expertise to progress the Town Centre Strategy to complement that of the internal team and emphasised the need to deliver the Strategy in a time-efficient manner to bring about improvements and grow the economy.

RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND TO THE EXECUTIVE:

1.  That the existing resources contained in exempt Appendix B to the report be allocated for funding professional expertise needed for development of the Maidstone Town Centre Strategy.

2.  That, following the procurement evaluation process, delegated authority be given to the Chief Executive for appointment of the professional team in consultation with the Leader (who is the Lead Member with responsibility for Economic Development).

3.  That delegated authority be given to the Head of the Mid-Kent Shared Legal Service to enter into a contract with the preferred supplier.