Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director of Finance and Resources

Rav Ghattaora, IT Technical Services Manager, introduced the report seeking approval to undertake a competitive purchasing exercise to find the best value supplier of information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and mobile devices; and purchase, deploy and support the equipment with required labour resources to enable Services’ delivery to citizens, councillors and partners.  He highlighted the following information:

a)  Since 2014 the Council has had a programme to proactively replace laptops, computers and mobile phones, aiming for a 5-6 year lifecycle of equipment.

b)  Procurement will be undertaken via a framework as this is the most cost-effective route to market.

In response to a question from the Committee, it was confirmed that equipment that becomes available due to staff leaving employment is proactively repurposed.

Resolved to:

(1)  delegate authority to the Head of Service (IT) to undertake a procurement process and enter into contracts with the successful bidder, up to the value of £1m per annum over the 3 years to March 2027 (totalling £3m), to purchase PCs, laptops, mobile phones and other peripheral equipment required to deliver the ICT product replacement programme and employ delivery resources; and

(2)  authorise recovery and repayment to the IT Investment Fund and the IT Revenue Budget of varying amounts from departmental budgets to cover requests for new equipment made outside of the IT Equipment Programme.

Reasons for recommendations

c)  There is a high level of dependence on ICT throughout the Council for delivery of services to citizens and to support joint working with partners and the ICT Product Replacement Programme supports this by ensuring that all ICT equipment is fit for purpose.

d)  Purchasing ICT equipment and mobile devices in bulk using a compliant procurement process will ensure the ongoing, cost-effective procurement of devices to support front-line services. The authorisation approved will enable multiple procurements to be carried out over the approved period, which will enable changes in technology to be taken into account.

e)  The value of the procurement is based on historical trends.  If demand is less, fewer devices will be procured and authorised budgets retained within the IT Investment Fund and IT Revenue Budget.

Other options considered

f)  Do nothing.  The current contract for ICT equipment will expire and the purchase of new equipment will have to be made within the Council’s Financial Regulations but on an ad hoc basis. This option was rejected because it will mean that more procurements will be made, with a consequent increase in transactional activity adding to the cost of delivery; and because the purchase volumes will be lower there will be less opportunity to access economies of scale due to some framework conditions as well as other factors.

g)  Currently the Council adopts an approach to providing ICT equipment that is based upon outright ownership and management. Some organisations have adopted a different approach, to lease equipment and buy support services as a part of this package. The benefits of this approach include smoothing the costs of equipment replacement and releasing the organisation from one of the day-to-day elements of IT service delivery. However, there are added costs and limits on future flexibility associated with this model. There are also opportunities to recoup funds from selling owned equipment which is not possible where leasing is used. Therefore, this approach was rejected.