Decision - New Historic Records Office and Resource Centre (The Keep)

(1)               That Cabinet note progress since July 2010, particularly that relating to scheme design and the positive outcome of the planning application.

(2)               That Cabinet note the contents of the detailed report presented to the Joint Project Board on 15 February 2011 (attached as Appendix 1 to the Part 2 report), particularly the Board’s recommendations, which have been referred to partners for agreement.

(3)               That Cabinet confirms the council’s commitment to ‘The Keep’ and supports continued partnership working with ESCC and the University of Sussex in moving forward to the construction phase.

(4)(i)    That Cabinet note the request for a higher level of funding from the city council, and the basis of this request as set out in Section 3.30 of this report, and

(4)(ii)   Confirm the council’s agreed contribution of £5.345m towards the project’s capital costs to practical completion, with ‘in principle’ agreement to up to an additional £0.270m to be met from the capital financing costs budget, subject to effective management of the project contingency budget, which is expected to reduce the level of additional funding required.        

(5)               That Cabinet support the main principles set out in the draft Partnership Collaboration Agreement covering the period through to practical completion (attached as an Appendix to the Part 2 report), and agree that the partners should seek to conclude this as a matter of urgency.

(6)               That Cabinet delegates authority to enter into the Partnership Collaboration Agreement to the Strategic Director Communities and the Head of Law in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation & Tourism, and agree that the agreement should be signed by all three partners prior to ESCC entering into the construction contract.

(7)               That Cabinet note the letter of intent submitted by the University of Sussex attached as Appendix 2 to the Part 2 report.        

(8)               That Cabinet note the anticipated annual running costs of the Keep, together with the currently anticipated apportionment between the three partners, and agree that the partners should to continue to refine this as part of the Partnership Collaboration Agreement; where delegation to enter into that agreement is covered in 2.6 above.

(9)               That Cabinet note the next stages of development and the timetable associated with this as set out in Section 3.61 of this report.

(10)          That Cabinet note the Heads of Terms for the long-term governance agreement, the final form of which will return to a future Cabinet meeting for approval in good time to enable all partners to enter into it prior to practical completion of the building.

(11)          That Cabinet recommends to the Project Board, that it review current project management, Board membership, and reporting arrangements to reflect full partner engagement and that appropriate changes are agreed between the partners.

(12)          That for the reasons set out in the Part 2 report if it is agreed with ESCC that the site shown on the substituted plan annexed should be transferred leased by ESCC to the Council, to agree that the Head of Legal Services is authorised to complete that transaction.

(13)          That if it is agreed with ESCC that the land should be appropriated for planning purposes, to authorise officers to advertise the intention to appropriate the land shown on the revised appended plan (Appendix 4) for planning purposes and to delegate to the Strategic Director Communities in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Culture, Recreation & Tourism the consideration of any objections and the final decision whether or not to appropriate the land for planning purposes.

The Keep will address the acknowledged problems of long term storage and preservation of the city’s historic records and archives.  The current facilities are completely inadequate and unsustainable, even in the short to medium term.  Failure to address the problems could result in The National Archives removing the licence to hold public records and seek to place the collections elsewhere.  The new centre will overcome these problems and will represent the next generation of archive buildings in the UK.

The council has been involved in the project’s development over the past 4 years and has made a significant financial investment to support the project to this point.  Good progress has been made and the development of the scheme to RIBA Stage F means there is far greater confidence about financial viability.  The project has reached a point where ESCC requires partner commitment before it is able to enter the construction contract; something that would support start on site in the summer of 2011.

The city council has considered alternative options at each stage of the projects development and as part of every previous report to Cabinet and its predecessor bodies.  It has previously been acknowledged that to do nothing is not an option given that historic material would continue to deteriorate and lead to loss of public records and historically important archives.

On each occasion it has been concluded that the partnership approach offers the most cost effective solution and that it is consistent with the government’s National Archives Policy, where the focus is on delivering fewer, bigger and better facilities.

As set out in the July 2010 report to Cabinet ‘The Keep’ is considered to be the best and most cost effective solution for the city council to the problem of meeting the council’s responsibilities for managing the historical records and will ensure that both legal obligations and TNA standards are met.  For the council to consider going it alone could potentially result in two facilities within the city, a duplication of services which would create a negative perception around value for money and would in the future lead to public confusion and competition for grant funding for archive projects within the city.