To inform the Committee of progress with the Streetscene major procurements that are currently underway and seek views on any issues that the Committee would wish to be considered in concluding the procurement process to put in place new contractual arrangements from the end of August 2013.

The Committee were informed of progress with the Streetscene major procurements that were currently underway.  The Committee also expressed its views on issues for consideration in concluding the procurement process to put in place new contractual arrangements from the end of August 2013.

The Cabinet Member – Major Contracts, briefly outlined the budget position and the contract timetable and emphasised that Cabinet would consider the major procurements at a meeting on 13 June 2013.

The Assistant Director, Place Based Commissioning, highlighted that four related procurements had been established to put in place new arrangements from 1 September 2013.  These were outlined in more detail in the agenda report but covered: Public Realm; Building Services; Building Cleaning, and Ancillary Services. He took the Committee through the key points in the report.

During the course of debate the following principal points were noted:

·         With one month to go the principal elements for the contracts were already in place.

·         The competitive dialogue procedure had enabled dialogue with bidders to include locality needs e.g. the Lengthsman Scheme.

·         Questioned on the payment mechanisms (para 10.15) it was clarified that lump sum elements may be paid where the risk was low and clearly identified e.g. in building Services where maintenance was programmed and on a costed basis.  Reactive payments, which would be kept to a minimum, would be for emergency works.

·         The Committee noted the level of intended savings but questioned whether the report set out sufficient financial data to substantiate the savings claimed. Year on year capital/revenue figures would have been useful.  In response the committee were informed that historical spending levels had been used and depended on the balance between revenue and capital, and to a degree income from the Belwin scheme.  Figures had been presented to Cabinet in an earlier report.

·         The contract will allow services to be devolved to other organisations.  Competence or enhanced performance may need to be established.

·         The Public Realm contract would be for 10 years with options to extend.  In circumstances of poor performance it could be cancelled.

·         Questioned on information sharing and providing information to ward members, it was confirmed that this would occur under locality or engagement with providers; community, and town and parish councils.

·         The Monitoring Officer confirmed that in accordance with the Council’s decision making procedure under the constitution, governed by the Local Government Act 2000, Cabinet would make the decision concerning the contracts.

·         Officers working with the consultants had strived to ensure that the contract specifications were correct.  The Council needed to ensure that the future provider(s) delivered the services to the expected levels.

·         The Committee were informed that the competitive dialogue process was a recognised tendering practice and involved dialogue with bidders with the aim of developing alternative solutions to meet requirements.

·         There were currently three potential bidders in the Public Realm process.

·         The potential for initial capital investment in highway assets had had no limiting effect on bidders, in fact this had been seen as a positive opportunity to discuss  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71