BID contract summary

What is a BID contract?

Statutory Guidance issued by the Government makes it clear that, in any BID, there must be a contract between the billing authority (ie Plymouth City Council) and the BID Proposers (ie Plymouth City Centre Company Limited). The general idea is that those who are paying the BID Levy will know how their money is being spent and what the Council is contributing to the arrangements.

The contract must include a schedule of financial payments to be made by Plymouth City Council, an agreement on baseline and other services, clarification of other duties and responsibilities and what action may lead to, and follows, termination.

The draft BID contract for Plymouth appears on the following pages. In summary it provides:

• a concordat; setting out the beliefs and objectives shared by Plymouth City Council and the City Centre Company
• for a specification process; determining the scope and standards for baseline and other services to be provided by the Council in the BID Area, for the duration of the contract
• for a mechanism by which service performance is monitored and subjected to a process of constant improvement.
• for termination; in the event of persistent failure to perform up to standard
• for the provision of matched funding from the City Council and annual cash flow agreements to plan the funding and timely pursuit of BID projects

What are baseline services?

The draft contract requires the Council to provide four different types of services to the BID;

Baseline services: listed in Schedule 3 of the contract, they are those services which the Council currently carries out in the BID Area, such as cleansing and other street services. Under the contract the City Council undertakes to continue to provide those services for the duration of the contract (and to submit them to an improvement programme, see below).

Estate management services: Plymouth City Council is a major landholder in the BID Area and lets shops and premises on its own behalf. As a part of its contribution to the BID, Plymouth City will agree to carry out the management of their estate in accordance with the BID contract.

Support services: Plymouth City Council provides the City Centre Company with a number of support services which help to keep down overheads, for example, personnel/HR, finance and banking. Again, as a part of their contribution to the BID, the City Council will agree to continue to provide those services for the duration of the contract.

Statutory services: after the BID is set up the City Council will still be responsible for the provision of statutory services, such as planning and licensing. Under the BID contract, protocols will be established detailing how the City Council will use their rights and responsibilities under these services, and in particular the extent to which the City Centre Company may be entitled to participate in the statutory processes.

Can I expect to see improvements in services?

Elsewhere on the web site you will find specifications setting out details of the services currently provided in the BID Area and to the BID Company.

The contract provides that those services will be subjected to a process of review, where, at the instigation of either the City Council or the City Centre Company, improvements to any service are introduced and implemented. Provided the appropriate contractual process is followed, either party to the contract may insist on the process being followed.

From the perspective of both the City Council and the City Centre Company the improvement process is seen as critical to the achievement of the shared objectives for the BID. It gives the City Centre Company and the non domestic ratepayers in the BID area a genuine opportunity to influence the way services are provided.

How will I know my money is being well spent?

The contract provides for the performance of the City Council, in providing services, to be recorded against defined performance criteria, and reviewed at the request of the City Centre Company. Therefore if it is perceived that the standard of services falls below what it ought to be, the City Centre Company may review performance and the City Council will be expected to take corrective action.

Equally, the City Centre Company has its own performance targets to meet. These relate to the overall success of the BID. For example, one of the Company’s targets will be to increase the number of visits to the City Centre. The Company’s achievement of these performance criteria will be monitored in the same way as the City Council’s delivery of services.

Each year the City Council and the City Centre Company will meet to agree a budget and cash flow forecast. The purpose of this is to enable the Company to plan the implementation of the BID projects over the coming year. The amount of money available to be spent will not vary considerably on a year by year basis. The City Council has agreed to make fixed annual payments to the BID over its life, and the amount of the BID levy is not expected to change, but the date when the money is available may change (eg because not all rate bills are paid at the same time) and the cash flow forecast will assist in planning expenditure. For your part, the cash flow forecast will be available for you to examine, and to see how individual projects and services are delivered in accordance with the forecast. You will, therefore be able to see how the money is used.

How long does the contract last?

The contract will run for the initial duration of the BID (5 years) unless it is terminated, or extended as the arrangements may be under the statutory provisions. It is worth noting at this stage that although a BID may only be extended after a further ballot, the experience of BIDs elsewhere is that they are so successful that the vast majority are extended beyond their original term.

What happens at the end of the contract?

Before the contract comes to an end there will be a review to plan whether it ought to be submitted to a ballot authorising its extension or brought to an end via an exit strategy which will entail planning for the continuation of services after the BID has come to an end.

In the unlikely event that the City Council is in breach of the contract, but the BID is to continue, the exit strategy will consider how services are to maintained after the City Council’s involvement is at an end.

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