That:

a)    the cabinet member for commissioning, procurement and assets in consultation with the s.151 officer agrees to the transfer of the building maintenance, small works and cleaning service to Hoople Ltd.

1.             To procure a contract; this option is not possible due to the time scale remaining with the current contract. The earlier procurement exercise was disrupted by Covid and the latter procurement process demonstrated there was an insufficient level of interest in the contract due to the way in which the services have been packaged together. The services could be separated and re-tendered, however there is insufficient time to do this now with the current contract is ending in March 2021. 

2.             Not to provide the service: this option is not recommended as council buildings need to be cleaned, maintained and fit for purpose.

3.             To take up a short term contract extension with BBLP for service continuity purposes  whilst a procurement process is undertaken to procure two separate contracts (one for building cleaning and one for building maintenance and minor work). This was discounted as BBLP did not want to extend the contract under the same terms and conditions, which would have seen an increase in costs.

4.             To deliver the services through the public realm contract. This would have resulted in an increase  in costs and there was insufficient time to undertake a detailed best value review.

5.             A further option considered was to bring the service in-house. There is insufficient in-house resource to manage the service without additional investment being made, which would not be achievable within the budget and insufficient time to undertake a detailed review of the full impact.