Issue - decisions

13.1

The Executive Director, Place, submitted a report seeking authority to procure the contracts for the supply of Vacant Property Security and Cleaning to support the in-house Repairs and Maintenance Services, in line with the contents of this report.

13.2

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:-

(a) approves the tendering of the contract for Vacant Property Security and Cleaning and related services, via a new Council framework following a tender exercise, as outlined in the report, to ensure the continuation of the ongoing support provision for the Vacant Property Security and Cleaning services, and associated work for the Repairs and Maintenance services to maintain our corporate, void and acquisitions properties; and

(b) delegates authority to the Executive Director of Place, in consultation with the Director of Finance and Commercial Services and the Director of Legal

and Governance to:

1. decide the award of the new contracts to the successful suppliers

chosen by the Council following the procurement; and

2. take all other decisions necessary in order to meet the aims, objectives

and outcomes of this report which are not already covered by existing

delegations in the Leader’s Scheme of Delegation.

13.3

Reasons for Decision

13.3.1

 The procurement will enable the Council to:

• Have a compliant and flexible mechanism in place to meet the service requirements, whilst allowing for a thorough review in the medium term to identify any further savings/efficiencies as part of the ongoing Repairs & Maintenance TOM (target operating model) project. In addition, other Council clients will have access to a compliant Framework without the need to source their own requirements with the added efficiencies this will drive.

• Harness any immediate savings and economies of scale that can be realised by re-engaging the market, with any savings realised that can be cashable in nature will contribute to the services’ savings target.

• Realise the Council’s Social Value ambitions by driving further value added impact through this supply chain.

13.4

Alternatives Considered and Rejected

13.4.1

Alternative Option 1 – Do not Procure.

If the Council did not carry out this procurement then the Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Service would not be able to maintain the Council’s Housing Stock in as timely a manner and many properties would remain empty until the decent homes upgrade could be carried out. This impacts on the Councils ability to take rental income from these properties.

The Housing R&M service are however committed to more self-delivery with less reliance on third party contractors and service providers – this is a future aspiration and will take time to realise, in the interim the support will continue to be required.

We are bound by the Public Contracts Regulations and Council Governance to conduct a procurement where the level of financial spend indicates this, alternatives around the route to market will be options appraised, considered and benchmarked and fully documented in the Procurement Strategy.

13.4.2

Alternative Option 2 – Extend the contract with the current supplier.

The current contract will expire on the 31st March 2021 and there are no further extensions possible under the framework agreement.

13.4.3

Alternative Option 3 – procure via a fully compliant Framework

As stated, there are a number of fully compliant frameworks offering all the services we require – these are dominated by three companies one of which is our incumbent - Orbis.

ORBIS PROPERTY SERVICES – Wakefield, Manchester & Birmingham

SPECIALIST PROPERTY SERVICES – Leicester

VACANT PROPERTY SERVICES – Rotherham based service centre.

Whilst these are tried and tested suppliers and much of the due diligence around their appointment has been previously managed none are local and we feel there is a local market to tap into – there are a number of suppliers in the Sheffield area who could offer these services and by using a framework these potential suppliers would be excluded.

We require a reactive and responsive service on both the clear and clean services and the vacant property security services. In addition, we have extensive Health & Safety requirements and adherence to these needs to be evidenced via the tender, subsequent contract documentation and ongoing contract management.

Whilst the national Framework requirements can be tailored to meet our needs the Framework market is covered by three suppliers only and the market has many more which we would exclude via this route.

In addition to this narrow Framework market a number of other considerations have driven the decision namely the overarching lack of local competition, the work required making the Framework representative of our needs and broader health and safety compliance requirements are directing us to letting a fully compliant framework in our own right. This may lead to a more diverse and local supply chain, which will provide some additional Social Value benefits, and potentially a more flexible approach to service delivery.

The use of a Sheffield City Council Framework will offer the greatest flexibility for service delivery where peaks and troughs can be managed and third party support can be tailored to supplement the in house capability and flex with this as services move to more self-delivery over time.

13.5

Any Interest Declared or Dispensation Granted

None

13.6

Reason for Exemption if Public/Press Excluded During Consideration

None

13.7

Respective Director Responsible for Implementation

Laraine Manley, Executive Director, Place

13.8

Relevant Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee If Decision Called In

Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny and Policy Development Committee