Issue - decisions

Date of Decision:

13/03/2023

Decision Maker:

(Including Job Title)

Sam Barstow; Assistant Director of Community Safety & Street Scene

Specific Delegation:

(If any)

As stipulated in the Financial and Procurement Procedure Rules (FPPRs) under section 68.3 Signing Contracts and the Common Seal which sets out the following:

68.3.3 – Strategic Directors, other officers defined in the directorate scheme of delegation or other Authorised Signatories, have the power to sign Contracts and agreements that are not required to be made by deed.

Brief Description of Decision:

To seek approval to move to contract award and appoint the successful supplier in relation to the provision of the Council’s Highways Asset Management Software as detailed within the procurement business case.

The call-off with be in place for an initial term of 24 Months plus an optional extension of 12 months and the total contract value will be £258,810.00.

Reasons for the Decision:

To allow the Council to proceed with the award of the contract to the successful supplier so it can maintain its services and the use of hardware in order to help support meet the Councils requirements.

If the Council do not enter into a further call-off agreement, then it will become non-compliant with its own Financial and Procurement Procedure Rules and all future spend with Symology Ltd will be flagged as such.

Also without a further call-off agreement from 18 March 2023, the Council faces a significant business continuity risk, unable to manage activities on the highway, manage its highway repair programme and maintain a robust Highway safety inspection process.

Details of alternative options considered and rejected:

As per Appendix D – Procurement Options Appraisal of the business case the following options were considered and rejected for the below reasons:

·     Above Threshold – Open Tender Process – There are compliant frameworks that the Council can utilise that meets its requirements.  The timescales that are set out in the Public Contract Regulations cannot be reduced therefore this is why the option is discounted

·     Above Threshold – Restricted Tender Process – There are compliant frameworks that the Council can utilise that meets its requirements.  Directorate Leads are keen to get this procurement exercise completed in a timely manner.  The timescales that are set out in the Public Contract Regulations cannot be reduced therefore this is why the option is discounted.

Conflicts of interest declared by any Executive Member consulted by the decision maker which relates to the decision:

No conflicts of interest raised.

Dispensations Granted:

(If any)

Reports or parts of reports considered

The Procurement Business Case has been shared with the Decision Maker to help inform the decision to proceed with the direct award.

The business case is solely for internal use only and should not be published externally