Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director for Finance and Resources

Sarah Wilson, Electoral Services Manager, presented the report, informing the Committee that Electoral Services relied on a small number of specialised suppliers to provide a wide variety of products for the efficient and effective delivery of its service to meet the statutory requirements as set out in legislation and to provide a high level of service to citizens.

Ms Wilson stated the following:

a)  the services included:

·  a dedicated Electoral Management System (EMS) to meet all registration and election software requirements, along with additional integrated products which enhanced the delivery of service and customer journey and maximised efficiencies;

·  a highly specialised printing and postal provider to innovate and design products to assist service users and produce and distribute sensitive items of personal mail in a secure and timely manner for both registration and election processes;

·  Royal Mail collecting and delivering specialised items of mail to citizens as a priority under a specific licence, and ensuring their safe return.

b)  The current contracts for software and printing and postal providers were approaching their renewal dates and Electoral Services were seeking approval to enter into new contracts with providers for the next four years (with the option to extend for a further 2 years) subject to procurement requirements, from the beginning of the financial year 2022-23.

c)  Failure to act would result in Electoral Services not having any contracted suppliers, leaving the Electoral Registration Officer and the Returning Officer at risk of not being able to deliver the statutory service. This would not only lead to poor customer service and reputational damage to the authority, but also breach procurement rules and financial regulations.

d)  As part of securing new contracts for the next four (or more) years, Electoral Services would also be able to test the market and, wherever possible, seek best value moving forwards.

Resolved

(1)  to delegate authority to the Director of Legal and Governance to enter into a 4-year (plus a 2-year extension option) contract with suppliers as set out below:

i.  following a compliant procurement process through an approved Crown Commercial Services Framework, and following due diligence and value for money checks via the e-market place, an EMS software contract to the existing supplier;

ii.  following a tender process exercise, a printing and postal supplier;

(2)  to note that exemption from Contract Procedure Rules was granted by the Chief Finance Officer in accordance with paragraph 18.79 of the Constitution in order to use Royal Mail (as the only company able to provide the service) to deliver the last stage of the postal process to the doorstep;

(3)  that expenditure on providing Electoral Services of up to £1.28million over the next 4 years, and a further £640,000 if the option of a 2-year extension is exercised, is approved.

Reasons for recommendations

1.  To ensure that the Council can adequately continue to deliver its statutory functions in relation to Electoral Services from April 2022 onwards.

2.  To comply with Financial Regulations relating to testing the market to demonstrate that best value for money is being obtained.

3.  To ensure business continuity for Electoral Services and the ERO & RO with a new supplier contract in place before existing contacts and solutions expire.

4.  To provide adequate time and resources to replace or renew existing contracts ahead of the next annual canvass in 2022 and scheduled election in May 2023.

5.  To reduce the risk to the ERO and RO of not being able to operate adequate, effective and efficient services as a result of any period of time where no supplier is contracted to deliver these services.

6.   To pro-actively plan and build services for a transforming organisation considering changes to regulations and legislation as a result of ongoing reforms and other external factors such as COVID and the changing demographic, as well as internal factors, such as budget pressures and workforce reduction.

Other options considered

1.  Do nothing and allow contracts to cease without new contracts in place. This is not recommended as:

i.   this would put NCC, the ERO & RO at a high risk as Civica could give notice or increase costs based on the short term commitment and Electoral Services capability to send out correspondence and deliver all elements of the statutory service would be compromised;

ii.  NCC would still have to pay Civica for the intellectual property right to use the software but we wouldn’t have a contract in place with agreed terms and conditions;

iii.  NCC would incur additional expenditure as best value would not be met and costs would increase.

2.  Develop and implement an in-house solution. This is not recommended as:

i.  IT services do not have the resources or time to develop and maintain the system;

ii.  the cost and effort to develop such a solution would out-strip the cost of a product built for market which is already available and in use within the sector;

iii.  NCC does not have the capacity, resource or technical ability to provide an internal solution to the printing and distribution of large amounts of specialist mail, especially the printing and fulfilment of postal packs and ballot papers.