Agenda item

Contracts Update

Meeting of Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, Friday, 22nd March, 2024 9.30 am (Item 25.)

Minutes:

The Committee:

· approved the public advertisement of tenders as per Standing Order 37a detailed in appendix 1 (table 1);

· approved the award of STAs in line with Standing Order 55 exceptions as detailed in appendix 1 (table 2);

· approved the modification of the contract as per Standing Order 37a detailed in appendix 1 (table 3); and

· agreed that reports be submitted to a future meeting in relation to the contract on facilities management arrangements at the Mary Peters Track and the off street car parking enforcement:

Table 1: Competitive Tenders

Title of Tender	Proposed Contract Duration	Est. Max Contract Value	SRO	Short description of goods / services
Supply of waste collection sacks	Up to 4 years	£600,000	S Grimes	This is a recurring contract for the supply of recycled plastic and paper sacks to BCC stores to support operational teams/depts.
Supply of paints and sundries	Up to 4 years	£120,000	S Grimes	This is a recurring contract for the supply of paints and sundries to BCC stores to support operational teams/depts.
NIESS benchmarking tool	Up to 1 year	£40,000	J Greer	BCC is acting on behalf of the 11 NI councils to appoint a Contractor to deliver a benchmarking tool to support the new Entrepreneurship Support Service (NIESS) funded in part by the Department of Levelling Up and Housing and Communities’ Shared Prosperity Fund.
Supply, fitting and maintenance of fire extinguishers	Up to 5 years	£150,000	S Grimes	Requirement to maintain existing fire extinguishers and provide and install any required new units, as required.
Small civil engineering works	Up to 4 years	£1,200,000	S Grimes	Contract to support Depts in maintaining assets including playgrounds.
Purchase of IT equipment	Up to 1 year	£500,000	S McNicholl	New devices to facilitate hybrid working and replacement devices as per regular business as usual replacement cycle
Manufacture, supply and installation of signage.	Up to 3 years	£210,000	D Sales	To supply replacement signage across BCC sites.

Table 2: Single Tender Actions

Title

Duration

Est. Max Contract Value

SRO

Description

Supplier

STA Reason Code

Support for Modern.gov IT System

Up to 3 years

£35,000

P Gribben

We own the Modern.gov licences and Civica who are the supplier are the only company who provide maintenance and support for modern.gov.

Civica UK Ltd

Oracle licences and technical support

Up to 3 years

£40,000

P Gribben

Licencing and technical support by Oracle for systems with over 1,000 users. Proprietary licences and support provide directly by Oracle only.

Oracle Digital PLC

Table 3: Modification to Contract

Title of Contract	Original Contract Duration	Modification required	SRO	Description	Supplier
Bobbin Café Franchise	Up to 30 months	A further 6 months (Income based contract)	N Largey	After lengthy pre-market engagement, permission is sought for an extension up to 6 months to help facilitate the re-tender exercise and ensure the Franchise represents best VFM option for the Council whilst testing the market as a Reserved Contract to social enterprises	Now Group
Operator for Travel Hub at Cathedral Gardens	Up to 18 months	Additional 3 months and additional £7000 spend	C Reynolds	Extension of further 3 months to June 24 following additional external funding being made available to support.	Sustrans Limited
Facilities management service at Mary Peters Track.	Up to 6 years	Additional 6 months and £110k spend	D Sales	Contract extension required to allow sufficient time for Council to explore alternative management options for the site and time to re-tender, if required. Note – SP&R approved a 6-month extension in Oct 23. Total modification therefore 12 months beyond original expiry date.	Athletics NI
Provision of a medical referee service contract for the Cemeteries/ Crematorium	Up to 5 years	Additional 3 months and additional £7500 spend	D Sales	A 3-month extension is required to facilitate a re-tendering exercise. Tender documents are being finalised and should be advertised to market in April 24. Delays experienced due to resourcing issues in the Department and additional work required to review and re-draft tender documents.	Dr N B Smith
Supply, fitting and maintenance of fire extinguishers	Up to 3 years	Additional 4 months and additional £7000 spend	S Grimes	A 4-month extension is required to allow more time for the Council to review its requirements and include necessary equipment upgrades to Specification in line with emerging legislation/best practice. It is expected this review will be completed in March/April 24.	1^st Klass Fire Protection

STA/ Direct Award Reasons

Reason Code	Reasons in line with Public Contact Regulations
1	No response following advertised procurement exercise
2	Creation or acquisition of a unique work of art or artistic performance
3	Competition is absent for technical reasons (no reasonable substitute exists)
4	The protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights
5	Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by BCC, the time limits for a procurement cannot be complied with.
6	Products manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experimentation, study or development
7	Additional deliveries which are intended either as a partial or extended replacement of supplies or installations where a change of supplier would result in supplies of different technical characteristics causing incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance
8	Supplies quoted and purchased on a commodity market
9	Supplies or services on particularly time-limited advantageous terms e.g. supplier winding up its business activities
10	New works and services consisting of the repetition of similar works or services, provided that the possibility of a direct award is disclosed during the original tender process
11	Other – Reason not in line with Public Contract Regulations (PCR 2015)

Supporting documents: