Issue - meetings

Report of Corporate Director of Resident Services

Shane Staley, Fleet Manager, presented the report and stated the following:

·  Fleet Services currently use the ESPO framework, which is a ‘direct award’ process for the provision of diesel and other lubricants. This contract is due to expire 30 August 2022 and the report seeks approval for the Council to go out to ‘mini competition’ by using the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework agreement and award a contract to one supplier to purchase fuels.

·  There is significant volatility in the fuel market at the moment and the proposed arrangement would allow greater flexibility and will secure more competitive prices for fuels.

·  Despite the ongoing electrification of Nottingham City Council’s fleet, diesel is still essential for running 49% of the fleet including refuse collection vehicles, sweepers and minibuses.

In response to questions it was confirmed that an option to use fuel cards would be held in reserve to be used if required but this would mean paying forecourt prices for fuel and presented issues with larger vehicles such as refuse trucks accessing the pumps.

Resolved to

(1)  approve going out to 'Mini Competition' and award a contract to one provider via the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework agreement. The contract will be awarded for an initial 2-year period with an option to extend it by 1+1 years

(2)  approve spend of £9,600,000 for fuel and lubricant supply for the NCC vehicle and plant fleet

(3)  delegate authority to the Director of Neighbourhood Services to award the necessary contract(s) to the chosen supplier under the new framework.

Reasons for recommendations

(1)  To ensure the provision of the services which are compliant with UK Procurement legislation and the Council’s procurement rules.

(2)  To enable the Council to access market competitive prices throughout the purchasing period through the aggregated purchasing power of the awarding Framework.

(3)  To ensure commercial and financial risks to the Council are mitigated by the Framework Terms and Conditions.

(4)  The framework lists approved suppliers chosen through a qualitative and pricing competition which Nottingham City Council is permitted to access as a Contracting Authority.

(5)  Continued use of frameworks means that the investigation into the most competitive suppliers and price of fuel is undertaken on behalf of Nottingham Council.

Other options considered

(1)  The Council could choose to undertake a full competitive tendering process for the provision of automotive fuel and oil. This has been discounted for the following reasons: - A full competitive tender will take around 9 months to complete meaning any new arrangements are unlikely to be in place before August 2022 when the current contract ends. Furthermore, the relatively low volumes of fuel and oil purchased by the Council, when compared to the terms of the framework agreement, means that any tendered prices may not reflect best value because similar economies of scale may not be achieved. A full competitive tender would increase the procurement costs without, as noted above, providing best value for the Council.

(2)  CCS has an open framework for the provision of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19