Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR is attached.

Councillor Tahir Rafiq, Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR, presented the report which sought formal approval of a contract award recommendation following completion of the further competition exercise carried out to procure the Council’s water hygiene monitoring services contract via the ESPO 198_20 Framework. The contract is for the period 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2027 with an extension option at the discretion of the Council for a further 2 years.

Decision:

Cabinet approved the award of a contract to the winning bidder for the period of three years from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2027 with the right to extend at the discretion of the Council for a further 2 years.

Reasons for the decision:

Only two compliant bids were received. The winning bidder scored highest overall in the evaluation process. The evaluation of the tenders was carried out on a 50:50 price and quality/social value basis.

Other options considered and rejected:

·         Carry out the water hygiene monitoring service in house.

This option is currently not feasible as the council does not have the labour capacity, suitably trained staff or the necessary IT infrastructure to carry out a service such as this. In order for this option to work the Council would need to invest in additional resources both in staff, training, hardware and software requirements and was therefore determined as not a financially viable solution.

·         Carry out an open tender procurement exercise.

This option was considered and is possible, however this would involve significantly more time and costs in the procurement process as a whole and for no real benefit. The use of this framework is free and ensures that all suppliers have been evaluated and approved based on their capabilities, expertise, and compliance within required criteria along with pre-negotiated terms and conditions. Further competition exercise enabled the council to tailor the service requirements to the Council’s specific needs. There are little or no benefits to going out to open tender over using this framework and as a result this option was dismissed.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR is attached.

Councillor Tahir Rafiq, Cabinet Member for Corporate Affairs and HR, presented the Part B report which set out the full financial details.

Decision:

Cabinet approved the award of a contract to the winning bidder for the period of three years from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2027 with the right to extend at the discretion of the Council for a further 2 years.

Reasons for the decision:

As set out for Part A.

Other options considered and rejected:

As set out for Part A.