Agenda item

Report of Director for Economic Development and Property

Councillor Williams, Portfolio Holder for Finance, introduced the report.

Trevor Bone, Head of Building Services and Facilities Management, presented the report and stated the following:

(i)  the report sets out Building Services (BS) and Facilities Management (FM) procurement requirements for planned, reactive maintenance and minor works for the financial year 2023/24;

(ii)  the Council must comply with a number of statutory obligations set out in a wide range of primary and secondary legislation in relation to its asset portfolio;

(iii)  the obligations are met by carrying out planned, reactive and minor works on the asset portfolio;

(iv)  whilst works are performed in-house wherever possible, there are occasions where specialist contractors or additional resource is required, and the report sets out how those requirements are to be procured to provide a seamless ability to meet the Council’s obligations under the applicable legislation;

(v)  BS and FM needs to award several framework agreements and contracts, up to a value of £5.497m (as set in appendix 1) in conjunction with the council’s procurement team;

(vi)  terms and conditions are already in place for awards under framework arrangements, and for other contracts, Legal Services will support where it can or facilitate the use of external solicitors if circumstances require and funding is identified.

Resolved

(1)  to approve the procurement of contracts as detailed in appendix 1, in line with the annual procurement plan, to a maximum value of £5.497m;

(2)  to delegate authority to Director of Economic Development and Property to award the contracts procured under recommendation 1, and to approve all call-off arrangements under those contracts over a period of four years (2023/27);

(3)  to approve the proposed expenditure of at least £1m of the £3.1m planned maintenance budget for 2023/24 on services delivered through in-house provision (as referenced in paragraphs 2.4 and 2.5 of the report).

Reasons for recommendations

(i)  The contracts set out in the appendix require re-procurement to comply with the public contract regs 2015 to enable BS and FM to keep the Council’s asset portfolio compliant with regulatory obligations, the applicable legislation and insurance obligations.

(ii)  Through the proposed procurement routes, the Council can continue to improve efficiency and service of supplier delivery across multiple high-risk work streams, and improve value for money for Directorates across the Council.

(iii)  The Council’s annual procurement programme has proven to be the best approach to securing a competent speciality supply chain with the lowest costs possible.

(iv)  The report details how orders are placed with Contractors through the Council’s robust systems. To ensure a smooth and timely process for placing orders it is recommended that the Director of Economic Development and Property has delegated authority to approve any contracts and call-offs made under frameworks for their duration. No award will be made without evidence that the budget has been approved for the ordered requirement or a contract is in place that either complies with the requirements of the Framework or has been reviewed by Legal Services.

(v)  It has been identified that at least £1m of the 2023/24 planned maintenance budget can be delivered through use of in-house services.

Other options considered

(i)  Do nothing and allow contracts to end, which will remove compliance with the applicable legislation and regulatory requirements across the Council’s portfolio of assets and increase the risk of prosecution and reputational damage to Nottingham City Council. This option was considered unacceptable and rejected.

(ii)  Insource all the activity covered by the contract areas under consideration for renewal. Due to the complexity and high risks involved with this task, including a lack of competency-based skills and training, equipment, and specialised resource, it was considered unacceptable and rejected.

(iii)  Allow Nottingham City Council’s directorates to purchase their own asset compliancy services. This is a very high-risk approach to asset safety and compliance across the portfolio and the Council would find it very hard to track actual compliance through our current systems. Such an approach would lead to additional expense and the general safety of the asset compromised. This approach is also against the principles of the Corporate landlord model to be introduced in 2023. This option was considered unacceptable and rejected.