Agenda for Commissioning and Procurement Executive Committee on Tuesday, 15th March, 2022, 10.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Ground Floor Committee Room - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions

Contact: Mark Leavesley  Email: mark.leavesley@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

57.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillor Campbell-Clark  -  personal

Councillor Longford    -  unwell

58.

Declarations of Interests

Minutes:

None.

59.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 279 KB

Last meeting held on 15 February 2022 (for confirmation)

Minutes:

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 15 February 2022 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

60.

Integrated Community Equipment Loan Service Partnership - Key decision pdf icon PDF 314 KB

Report of Corporate Director of People

Minutes:

Steve Oakley, Head of Contracting and Procurement, presented the report, which detailed the Integrated Community Equipment Loan Service (ICELS), managed through a partnership between Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire CCG.

 

It was stated that the partnership has responsibility for procuring a service that provides equipment to maintain independence to citizens of all ages across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, and the current contract has been recognised as being one of the most effective services in the region, both in terms of quality and cost.

 

The partnership was currently working on the process to procure a contract to replace the existing contract which expires in April 2023. The new contract is proposed to be for a period of five years, with a potential to extend for a further 5 years.

 

During discussion, Mr Oakley stated that the report incorrectly showed the spend was revenue, whereas it would be both revenue and capital, and that it had been approved at Capital Board in January 2022 as part of the larger DFG spend. He also stated that paragraph 5.2 (Finance comments) had a typing error, in that it should read ‘£0.774m per annum’, not ‘£0.742m per annum’ as stated, hence the total potential spend of £7.742m over the maximum 10-year contract.

 

Resolved

 

(1)  to approve:

 

(a)  continuation of Nottingham City Council being a party to the ICELS partnership for the duration of the new contract term (up to ten years);

 

(b)  spend of up to £7.742m on services delivered to Nottingham City Council through the ICELS partnership over the next ten years (5+5 years) based upon current budget as pooled funds under partnership arrangement;

 

(2)  to note the work being led by Nottinghamshire County Council on behalf of the ICELS partnership to procure a new contract from April 2023;

 

(3)  to delegate authority to the Director of Commissioning and Procurement to sign the partnership agreement.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

1.  The commissioning of Community Equipment Services needs a partnership between the NHS and Local Authorities to work effectively and efficiently. Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Community Equipment Loan Service (ICELS) Partnership has been managing the commissioning of ICELS for the NHS, Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Council for over 15 years. The partnership has been very effective with the ICELS provision being recognised nationally for being very efficient and providing a good quality service to citizens.

 

2.  Over the last ten years the cost of ICELS to Nottingham City Council (NCC) have not increased as initiatives undertaken across the partnership have reduce costs and improved the effectiveness of the service. NHS partners have recognised changes in discharge policies have impacted the cost of the service and they have increased their contribution. At the same time, NCC has been able to reduce its contribution by circa £0.3m.

 

3.  NCC could not source a service of the same standard at the same cost without the purchasing power of the whole partnership.

 

Other options considered

 

1.  End the partnership and procure a service for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

61.

Whynott Transport Procurement - Key decision pdf icon PDF 280 KB

Report of Corporate Director of People

Minutes:

Claire Moores, School Swimming and Whynott Transport Manager, presented the report, and stated the following:

 

a)  Nottingham City Councils’ Why Nott? Transport, based in the Curriculum and Enrichment Education Services, had a history of over 10 years of successfully supporting schools and academies to access educational visits, school swimming and ice skating lessons, and allows schools to secure the best price for their journey through a competitive process within a pool of pre-approved transport providers.

 

b)  The benefits of this to children and young people are that they can:

 

·  travel on transport that meets a pre-approved standard with regards safety and quality and is appropriate for any SEND requirements;

·  access a range of inclusive learning outside the classroom activities that enhance their personal development, physical and mental health and life chances.

 

c)  The benefits of this to schools/academies are that they can:

 

·  evidence they have exercised due diligence;

·  secure best value through a competitive process;

·  share vehicles with other schools to bring the costs down;

·  receive support on a scale greater that the school alone should there be issues with quality;

·  reduce the planning burden of providing inclusive learning outside the classroom experiences that contribute towards meeting CMO, National Curriculum and OFSTED Personal Development standards.

 

 d)  The benefits to Nottingham City Council are that this service:

 

·  is income generating;

·  facilitates a degree of control over the costs and quality of school swimming, ice skating and adventurous activity transport (which directly affects the booking volumes for at Leisure Centres, NIC and NCC’s Adventure Centres);

·  supports the inclusion of those with SEND in these activities;

·  supports compliance with the Council’s statutory duties with regards Health and Safety in maintained schools;

·  supports maintained schools in offering an inclusive, broad and balanced curriculum that meets the requirements of the CMO, National Curriculum and OFSTED standards.

 

e)  Historically, the service had been delivered jointly by Passenger Transport (Woolsthorpe) and Education through interdepartmental charging. Whynott Transport services had now moved fully into the Education Division. This had achieved efficiencies by reducing administration and interdepartmental charging and streamlined service to customers.

 

f)  As part of the transformation of the service, the Education Division sought approval to continue to procure transport for school travel through the Why Nott? Transport Scheme via a range of Transport providers, as Whynott Transport works with the vast majority of operators in Nottingham through competitive pricing strategies, and approval would enable it to continue to do so.

g)  The approval would enable the establishment of a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for the contracting and supply of transportation from external transport operators.

 

During discussion, and in response to questions, Ms Moores stated the following:

 

h)  the service is a traded service, it has to be self-funding, with costs being covered by income;

 

i)  the condition, age etc of the vehicles provided is controlled by the DPS;

 

j)  due to the prohibitive cost of new, ‘green’ vehicles, it was unlikely that the Council’s target of being carbon-neutral by 2028 would be met by this service,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.