NEWS :: General
Press Release January 2008
01 November 2007
INDEPENDENT LIVING FOR VULNERABLE PEOPLE
Following a competitive procurement process Leeds City Council
has announced that the Preferred Bidder for the £65 million
Independent Living Project, which will improve life for over 350
vulnerable adults across the city, and also provide two new units
for disabled children and young people is the LiLAC Consortium. The
LiLAC Consortium will now go forward to the detailed negotiation
stage which will take place prior to award of the Contract in March
2008.
The consortium includes facilities management specialist
Powerminster Gleeson Services Ltd along with housing provider
Progress Care Housing Association and local building company Jack
Lunn Construction. Financial backing comes from Nord LB and the
Consortium is managed by Gleeson Capital Solutions.
The project aims to deliver modern new homes for 350 adults with
learning disabilities and mental health needs who currently live in
13 hostels across the city, allowing them to live closer to their
own communities in smaller, less institutional and more independent
settings. The new units for children are an eight-bed service for
disabled young people approaching adulthood and a short breaks unit
for severely disabled children and young people.
Councillor Peter Harrand, Executive Board member for adults'
services, said: "The consortium will build high quality homes that
will help their tenants live as independently as possible, as
valued members of the community and playing a full part in local
life. The homes will give their residents dignity, privacy and a
quality of life that is not currently available in the present
hostel-type accommodation. This is a new departure for the way we
provide services for some of the most vulnerable people in
Leeds."
In all, 70 purpose-designed properties will be built for adults,
plus the two for children, on 39 sites across Leeds, following the
go-ahead for the government-approved and Private Finance
Initiative-funded project. The homes will be modern flexible
accommodation suited to the needs of the people using the
properties and giving them as much independence as possible.
Colin Rossiter, Director of Gleeson Capital Solutions, said: "The
LiLAC consortium is absolutely delighted to have been chosen as
Preferred Bidder. We are looking forward to working in partnership
with Leeds City Council through to financial close and on into the
operational phase where we are confident that our designs and
service delivery proposals will provide residents with a greatly
improved quality of life and independence"
The contract will be awarded in March 2008 and building will begin
in May 2008. By May 2011 the project will have been completed and
everyone will be living in their new homes.
Notes to Editors:
Following a competitive procurement process, a single bidder has
been selected by Leeds City Council. This Preferred Bidder will go
forward to the detailed negotiation stage which will take place
prior to award of the Contract in March 2008.
Powerminster Gleeson Services is accredited to ISO9001 and
ISO14001. For the past three years, the business has received RoSPA
Gold Medals for Safety.
For more information on this project contact Powerminster Gleeson
Services on 01142 820220 or visit the website
www.gleesonservices.co.uk.
Ends
Press enquiries: Marina Wood/Sarah Baygot, Dragonfly PR, Tel: 01709
300130 or email: marina@dragonflypr.co.uk.
