Decision details

Executive Decision Exemption from Call-in

Request to a Scrutiny Chair that an Executive Decision be exempt from Call-In for Scrutiny

Salford City Council – Record of Decision

I Councillor Youd, Lead Member for Finance and Support Services and chairman of the Procurement Board, in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby approve:

·      Approval to Award the Contract forHighways Drainage Maintenance Programme

The Reasons are: The preferred bidder was best overall when evaluated via the moderation process. GUN are a known entity to Salford City Council’s Technical Services Team as they have delivered a local service for Salford for over ten years. As such there is a high level of confidence that the statements made in the bid tender will be followed through on and that a high-quality service that is within budget will be delivered for the contract period.

Options considered and rejected were: As always there is the consideration of insourcing this type of works. At present there is not the level of funding available that would be required to develop an in-house drainage team. The work is specialised and would need a significant level of investment to train, equip and recruit headcount to.  Money that is not budgeted for in current financial plans. GUN are geared up to deliver a bespoke service to SCC and their pricing structure is highly competitive. It is not clear than delivering this service in house would provide any significant financial benefits. As such it can justifiably be argued that the decision to outsource this specialism, is the correct one at this time.

Assessment of Risk: If the contract is not awarded it runs the risk of the highways drainage system not being maintained to the required standards expected and increasing a health and safety risk to residents as well as increased flooding occurrences within the City.

The source of funding is: This will be funded via the annual Highways Maintenance Capital and Revenue Budget.

Legal Advice obtained: The Shared Legal Service:

When commissioning contracts for the procurement of goods, services, or the execution of works, the Council must comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) and its own Contractual Standing Orders (CSO’s), failing which a contract may be subject to legal challenge from an aggrieved provider. CSO’s stipulate that where a suitable framework agreement exists, this must be used unless there is an auditable reason not to. The proposed award of the contract follows a competitive tender exercise in accordance with an Open Tender procedure via The Chest portal using the Council’s Technical Services framework.

The procurement procedure undertaken in this matter appears robust, and the appointment of the provider for this service follows an open tender process which is outlined within the body of the report, with 5 bidders submitting tenders and being evaluated on the most economically advantageous tender basis, resulting in the proposed award of the contract to General Utilities Northwest, which is compliant with the requirements of CSO’s and public procurement legislation. Undertaking the open tender exercise in the recommendation will also give some comfort to the Council in ensuring that value for money is being obtained and periodically tested, with open competition maintained

Financial Advice obtained: Alison Woods, Interim Commercial Finance Manager

Date: 21^st February 2023 – There are approved revenue and capital budgets in place, to provide for both the programmed and potential reactive spend levels associated with this contract award, for a period of 12 months to March 2024.

Capital - programmed

·         £132k for the Drainage Improvement Programme (DIP)

·         £86k for the Culvert Improvement Programme (CIP)

Revenue – reactive

·         £58k for revenue maintenance work. 

·         £100k for reactive investigation and repair works to be awarded should the need arise. 

Implications in respect of the Innovate programme have been fully considered

Procurement Advice obtained: Heather Stanton, Category Manager xt 6241 – the drainage contract has been tendered as a further competition under Lot 3 Drainage of the Technical and Highways Works Framework.  This is a compliant route to market in line with PCR 2015 and SCC standing orders.

HR Advice obtained: N/A

Climate Change Implications obtained: N/A

Contact Officer: Paul Jackson

Telephone number: 07812 781 562

Please delete from the bullets below any which are not relevant:

·      This matter is also subject to consider by the Lead Member for            . The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract.

·      This matter is not subject to consideration by another Lead Member.

This document records a key decision but the matter was not included in the Council’s Forward Plan and it has been dealt with under the emergency procedure.

This decision is urgent and is not subject to call-in, in accordance with the Decision-Making Procedure Rules.

The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is the

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY

*   This decision was published on 15 March 2023.

*   This decision is not subject to call-in and comes into force with immediate effect.