Agenda and minutes

Councillor Levy welcomed all attendees to the meeting.  It was noted that Councillor Hass Yusuf was substituting for Councillor Tolga Aramaz. Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Lee David-Sanders who had unfortunately been delayed by traffic.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive and consider a report from the Director of Law and Governance outlining details of a call-in received on the Operational Decision taken on Commercial & Financial Advisor Procurement Award (Report No: 116).

The decision that has been called in was an Operational Decision taken on 17 September 2018 and included on the Publication of Decision List No: 27/18-19 (List Ref:1/27/18-19) issued on 12 October 2018.

It is proposed that consideration of the call-in be structured as follows:

· Brief outline of the reasons for the call-in by representative (s) of the members who   have called in the decision

· Response to the reasons provided for the Call-in by the person responsible for taking the decision

· Debate by Overview and Scrutiny Committee and agreement of action to be taken

Please also see the Part 2 agenda

The Committee received a report from the Director of Law and Governance outlining details of a call-in received on the operational decision taken by the Executive Director, Place on the Commercial & Financial Advisor Procurement Award.

NOTED that this report was considered in conjunction with the information in the part 2 agenda.

All the discussion on this item took place in the part 2 section of the meeting.

To note the dates of future meetings as follows:

Provisional Call-Ins

·         Thursday 6 December 2018

·         Thursday 20 December 2018

·         Tuesday 15 January 2019

·         Thursday 7 February 2019

·         Tuesday 12 March 2019

·         Tuesday 26 March 2019

·         Thursday 11 April 2019

The Overview & Scrutiny Budget Meeting will be held on:

·         Thursday 31 January 2019

There is a Call in meeting scheduled for Monday 19^th November at 6:15pm

Please note, the business meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee will

be held on:

·         Tuesday 12 February 2019

·         Wednesday 3 April 2019

Noted the dates as follows:

Provisional Call-Ins:

Thursday 6 December, 2018

Thursday 20 December, 2018

Tuesday 15 January 2019

Thursday 7 February 2019

Tuesday 12 March 2019

Tuesday 26 March, 2019

Thursday 11 April, 2019

The business meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee:

Tuesday 12 February, 2019

Wednesday 3 April, 2019

The Overview & Scrutiny Budget Meeting:-Thursday 31 January 2019.

To consider, if necessary, passing a resolution under Section 100A (4) of the

Local Government Act 1972 excluding the press and public from the meeting

for the item of business listed in Part 2 of the agenda on the grounds that it

will involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those

paragraphs of Part 1 Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended by the Local

Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006), as are listed on

the agenda (Please note there is a Part 2 agenda).

Resolved in accordance with the principles of Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of the Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Attached for consideration as part of the Call-in on this item, is the Part 2 Operational report considered as part of the decision made on 17 September 2018.

The report should be read in conjunction with the Operational report attached at Appendix 1 to the Call-In report on the part 1 agenda.

(This document contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended).

Please see the Part 1 agenda.

The Committee received the information provided on the Commercial & Financial Advisor Procurement Award which had been included in the part 2 section of the agenda.

NOTED

1. The information was considered in conjunction with the report on the part 1 agenda.
2. Councillor Laban set out the reasons for calling in the decision.

·         Only one bidder (Bidder A) had come forward from the mini tender from a total of twelve companies on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) framework. Clarity around the procurement of this award was requested as to why the other companies on the framework had not submitted tenders.

·         Bidder A had been carrying out work for the local authority.

·         Finance for the future of the contract.

The response of Peter George (Director Meridian Water), Jennifer Price (Principal Development Manager)

• Meridian Water is a major project and this contract is one of the service contracts which will provide commercial and financial advice.
• There was discussion about the comments received from companies who had been invited to tender. Although eight of the twelve companies who had been invited to tender had originally stated they were interested in tendering, they had eventually decided not to do so.
• The decision not to tender may have been because of the complexity of the project, when companies may have felt they did not have the necessary expertise. It may also be because of the time and expense for a company carrying out a tendering exercise when there was perceived to be only a 1:12 chance of success.
• There was discussion about the possibility of any potential shortfall for future funding.  Peter George confirmed the draw-down of funds would be available from the Meridian Water budget. It would cover the costs for this ‘Call-off’ contract.

Questions and comments addressed from members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

·         Councillor Smith asked if it would have been possible for three or four companies to be asked to tender for this work from the ‘framework’. He felt this would have encouraged more companies to tender.  Jennifer Price stated that it is not possible to do this, as regulations state that all companies on the framework must be invited to tender. Councillor Smith asked for further information on the procurement process regarding use of the framework contractors.

Peter George supplied the following information as a post meeting note –

(When undertaking a call off from a framework agreement using the further competition route the Framework Agreement criteria states that we must invite all the suppliers on the Framework Agreement Lot to participate.

Undertaking a mini competition ensures that additional cost savings are possible, our requirements can be further refined over and above the basic contract terms to ensure achieving best value for money for our specific requirement.   Following the Framework Agreement procedures ensures that the EU Treaty-based principles, including equal treatment, transparency and non-discrimination are adhered to.)

·         It was asked if officers were satisfied with the company that had been successful in winning the contract.  Officers confirmed that they were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 850.