Enterprise Project - Contract Award for Technical and Commercial Advisory Services
North Lanarkshire Council · 24 May 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 24 May 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: NLC-NTP-22-135 Date: 24 May 2023 Enterprise Project – Contract award for technical and commercial advisory services From James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) E-mail mckinstryj@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: via Microsoft Teams Executive Summary Committee is asked to acknowledge the award of a contract for technical and commercial advisory services to Optimum Professional Solutions Limited (the ‘Contract’). The Contract was awarded via a Negotiated Tendering Procedure in accordance with General Contract Standing Order 9 (GCSO 9), this report explains the circumstances justifying the use of GCSO 9. The Contract is for an initial period of 6 months and commenced February 2023. The Council reserves the right to extend the Contract for a further period or periods of up to 14 months. The maximum contract period being 20 months. The value of the Contract shall not exceed four hundred and forty thousand Pounds Sterling (£440,000) exclusive of VAT. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance & Resources Committee: (1) acknowledge the award of the Contract to Optimum Professional Solutions Limited, following the completion of a Negotiated Tender Procedure in accordance with GCSO 9 at the maximum value of four hundred and forty thousand Pounds Sterling (£440,000) exclusive of VAT. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition Statement (24) Review and design services around people, communities, and shared resources
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1. Background 1.1 The Council’s existing strategic partnerships for Housing & Corporate Maintenance Services and Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance Services expire in January 2024 and June 2024 respectively. The delivery of the successor contracts are the principal components of the first phase of the Enterprise Project. 1.2 Optimum Professional Solutions Limited was commissioned in June 2022 to provide support to the procurement of the new Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement Services contract, the estimated value of the commission was £50,000. It quickly became apparent that the level of support, in terms of scope and value, required from Optimum Professional Solutions Limited would exceed the original estimate. 1.3 The original contract value was reached in January 2023 and a range of technical and commercial supports from Optimum Professional Solutions Limited continue to be required to support the procurements for Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement Services and Housing and Corporate Maintenance and Investment Services. 1.4 The Contract makes provision for: a. finalisation of the overall commercial strategy/tactics for the new service provision in terms of the desired commercial emphasis, approach to risk, pricing options/payment mechanisms and incentivisation (including the extension approach); b. developing the performance regime(s), including the drafting of a strategic maturity matrix (including pricing maturity) and appropriate KPIs; c. proposing a service credit (deductions) model(s); d. drafting the pricing and price evaluation models and associated pricing submission templates; e. appraising and proposing the inflationary indices/indexation approach(es) to be used; f. ensuring the selected approaches in bullet points a - e above, provide evidence to demonstrate VFM; and g. providing wider ad hoc advice and input including linking the commercial considerations into legal/contract advice provided by the other project advisors. 2. Report 2.1 The estimated value of the Contract dictated that the procurement procedure be undertaken in accordance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. 2.2 The procurement procedure was undertaken as a “Negotiated Tender Procedure” (NTP) in accordance with GCSO 9 and Regulation 33 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations
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2015. Following advice provided by the Corporate Procurement Team on behalf of the Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) and the Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic), the Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) approved the progression of the NTP to directly award the Contract to Optimum Professional Solutions Limited on 18 January 2023. 2.3 Use of the Negotiated Tender Procedure in accordance with GCSO 9 is justified as: a) the Council requirements relate specifically to the technical and commercial expertise required to ensure successful outcomes for Enterprise Project related procurements. Availability of organisations with these skills are scarce in the marketplace and challenging to secure. Optimum Professional Solutions Limited has experience of providing similar services and delivering successful outcomes at other local authorities across the UK. The Project Team is not aware of any other organisation that can provide the requisite technical and commercial skills within the required timescales; and b) the service area and the Project Team share the view that it is in the Councils best interest to contract with Optimum Professional Solutions Limited and that no reasonable alternative exists. Should the Council decide not to contract with Optimum Professional Solutions Limited, this would create undesirable duplication of work and adversely impact on project timelines, ultimately putting the delivery of essential services at risk. 2.4 The total maximum value of the Contract is four hundred and forty thousand Pounds Sterling (£440,000) exclusive of VAT including any option to extend the Contract: a) costs associated with the provision of support for the Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement Services contract are estimated as £260,000 (including the original £50,000 commission) and will be met from the existing service area budget; and b) costs associated with the provision of support for the Housing and Corporate Maintenance and Investment Services contract are estimated as £180,000 and will be met from the agreed Enterprise Project budget. 2.5 Further details of the procurement procedure is provided in Appendix 1 and the SME status and location of the service provider is located within Appendix 2. Price Savings / Increases 2.6 The day rates in the Contract are competitive when compared with other Enterprise Project commissions. The Contract does not facilitate financial savings nor make provision for price increases. Price Stability 2.7 The Contract is based on a number of day rates (excluding VAT and expenses) which are fixed for the duration of the Contract. Community Benefits 2.8 Given the nature of services required and the procurement procedure adopted, the procurement did not include a community benefit requirement.
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Fair Work First 2.9 The Contract will deliver against “Fair Work First” practices, including payment of the real Living Wage. Contract Management 2.10 Officers from the relevant service area will manage the aspects of the Contract relating to the Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement Services procurement, the Core Project Team will manage aspects of the Contract relating to the Housing and Corporate Maintenance and Investment Services procurement. Management of the Contract will be undertaken in accordance with the Councils agreed approach to contract and supplier management. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Contract will inform commercial and technical aspects of the new contracts for Roads & Infrastructure Maintenance & Improvement Services and Housing and Corporate Maintenance and Investment Services. 4. Supporting documents Appendix 1 Summary of Tender Evaluation Process Appendix 2 Summary of Procurement Process Appendix 3 SME Status and Location of All Tenderers James McKinstry Chief Officer (Assets & Procurement)
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e-mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)?
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Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex-Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.
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Appendix 1 – Summary of Procurement Process Response CPT Contract Reference Allocated: NLC-NTP-22-135 Tender Platform Utilised: Other Procurement Procedure Utilised: Negotiated Tender Procedure (NTP) Governing Legislation / Regulations: Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 Date Contract Strategy / NTP Approved: 18 January 2023 Date Tender Documents Released: N/A SME % of Expressions of Interest: N/A NLC Based % of Expressions of Interest: N/A Tender Return Deadline: N/A Number of Tenders Received: 1 Tenders Received from SME’s: 1 Tenders Received from NLC Based Tenderers: 0 Number of Recommended Tenderers: 1 Assessment Team: Enterprise Project Team Anticipated Contract Start Date: 01 February 2023 Total Contract Period (Months): Maximum of 20 months Maximum Total Contract Value: £440,000
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Appendix 2 – SME Status and location of all Tenderers Name of Tenderer Size of Tendering Organisation (Micro, Small, Medium or Large) Location (Local Authority / Council Area) Optimum Professional Solutions Limited Micro Preston City Council