Minutes for Cabinet Procurement Committee meeting, Oct 20 2009, 5.00PM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Mayor Pipe, Kay Brown and Caroline Anderson.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meetings held on 16 June 2009 and 8 September 2009

Contact Jackie Barrett 020 8356 3503

3.1  Minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2009

AGREED that the minutes of 16 June 2009 were a correct record of the proceedings.

3.2  Minutes of the meeting held on 8 September 2009

AGREED that the minutes of 8 September 2009 a correct record of the proceedings.

3.3  Matters Arising From The Minutes

AGREED that Chris Hudson, Assistant Director of Procurement and Fleet, would report to the next meeting on processes across the organisation to ensure that lessons learnt were not repeated and report on the operation of the Council’s contracts register.

ACTION CHRIS HUDSON

4.1  Committee Work Programme – Forward Procurement Plan Briefing Note with Appendix 1

Contact Juliet Okwuraiwe – 020 8356 3675

4.2  Hackney Procurement Board – Notes of Meeting 1 September 2009

4.1  Committee work programme – Forward Procurement Plan briefing note with Appendix 1.

4.1.1  Noted that the following items were on the Forward Procurement Plan as red items: 

a.  Hackney Downs School – Sports Big Lottery Fund

This item was now a green item on the Forward Procurement Plan.

b.  Dalston Library Fit out

This item would be an agenda item for the next Cabinet Procurement Committee meeting in December 2009.

c.  Hackney Marshes Changing Facilities – Design and Construction

This item was an agenda item for this meeting.

d.  Telecare

This report was presented to Hackney Procurement Board at its 1 September 09 meeting.

e.  Independent Tenants and Leaseholders Advisor (ITLA)

This report would be presented to the next Hackney Procurement Board meeting on 10 November 2009.  It had been delayed due to the requirement of members for additional information to be included into the report.

4.2   Hackney Procurement Board – notes of the meeting held on 1 September 2009 were noted.

RECEIVED a presentation from Steve Douglas, Interim Corporate Director Neighbourhoods and Regeneration, on Procurement Planning for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration.  (A copy of which is available from Democratic Services upon request).

The following answers were given to questions on slide 3 of the presentation:

1.  Does the purchasing plan reflect the department’s current business plan, including any additional known or anticipated external drivers for change?  Yes

2.  Does the PFP fully reflect the department’s purchasing plans for the year? Yes as it is important to have a long term view

3.  What are seen as the key procurements for improving services and efficiency? This will be  explained later in the presentation

4.  What are seen as the key risks?  This will be covered  later in the presentation.

5.  Consultation: Has Member and stakeholder involvement been considered?  In the main yes; although more work was being done particularly in consultation with officers in Procurement and colleagues across the Directorate. 

6.  Are there known issues of urgency or timing in the planned programmes?  Contracts had been identified on the forward schedule as needing renewal in 0-6 months time 6-12 months time and in over a years time.

7.  Does the department have sufficient and suitably skilled staff resources to complete the procurement programme? and

8.  Does the department have sufficient and suitably skilled staff resources to manage new contracts and to monitor performance? Yes in part to both questions 7 & 8; Officers needed to use the skills and knowledge of colleagues in Procurement and have an understanding of the service and processes.

Answers to questions from members on the presentation:

1. It was confirmed that officers were now more forward thinking in terms of contract renewal and that more planning was now taking place than had done in the past.
2. Tom McCourt, Deputy Director, Public Realm and Planning, stated that officers were involved in re-evaluating services such as waste and recycling services, how they could be integrated and shaped incorporating new strategies, government targets and customer expectation; and how other organisations such as The North London Waste Authority impacted on the service.
3. When contracts came up for renewal officers were now looking at the best value for money ways of delivering quality services which included the possibility of bringing services back in house in the future.
4. Charlotte Graves, Chief Executive of Hackney Homes confirmed that Hackney Homes had its own Procurement Board which was audited.
5. A Corporate Best Resources Programme was underway which would look at the best methods of procurement and best use of resources.  A procurement timetable up to 2012 was being drafted which would be flexible allowing for change.  The Council’s partners would be included in this.

Steve Douglas ended the presentation by thanking all his team and colleagues from Procurement for their help with this review.

This report confirms that funding has been secured to procure a Child Poverty Family Intervention Project and seeks approval for a tendering process to procure a provider.

RESOLVED

To approve a tendering process to procure a provider for up to a three (3) year period. The contract will be for one (1) year with the option to extend for up to two (2) further years depending on funding and performance

Eric de Mello, Head of Preventative Services, introduced the report as set out.  It was confirmed that the work of this service in reducing antisocial behaviour did have an impact on a number of other agencies in reducing their workload.  The Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets for the first quarter as detailed on page 42 of the report had significant improved for the second quarter of the year; these figures were available upon request from the report author.  Hazel Simmonds, Assistant Director Safer Neighbourhoods stated that the Anti Social Behaviour Sub Group had changed some of the KPI’s and were involved in a lot of work around how this service had reduced anti social behaviour.

RESOLVED

a.  To approve a tendering process to procure a provider for up to a three (3) year period. The contract will be for one (1) year with the option to extend for up to two (2) further years depending on funding and performance.

b.  That the next Review Point 5 report would be presented to Cabinet Procurement Committee in a year’s time and it would include information on both cashable and non cashable savings.

ACTION: ERIC DE MELLO

This report is a review of the Housing Management Contract performance for 2008/09.

Neehara Wijeyesekera, Interim head of Resident Services introduced the report as set out.  Hereported the following correction to the published Cabinet Procurement Cabinet paper at  Agenda Item 7, page 49. This referred to Section 5 - Financial Considerations including any identified cashable and non-cashable savings.

2008/09 Actual expenditure

Current figures under 2008/09 were not based on actual spend (outturn) but on the original tendered contract price submission. These amendments had been confirmed by Finance Departments from Hackney Homes and Neighbourhood and Regeneration.

The considerations and recommendations within the report did not affect financial savings as each contract contains identical gershon savings less index changes. The outcome of the RP5 report was focussed on mixed performance issues. 

Figure 5.1 –Correct Report Figures

£’000 Actual

Expenditure

2007/2008

£’000Actual

Expenditure

2008/09

£’000Estimated

Outturn

2009/10

North East - Pinnacle

£2,028

£2,064

£2,083

North West – Pathmeads

£1,670

£1,565

£1,579

Homerton - Mouchel

£1,759

£1,983

£1,934

Queensbridge & De Beauvoir - Mouchel

£1,556

£1,627

£1,563

Shoreditch - Pinnacle

£1,474

£1,519

£1,448

Total Expenditure

*£8,487

£8,758

£8,607

* Figure excludes cleaning costs

1)  Cleaning costs had been excluded from all partners payments to show a like for like comparison on services provided within the current year.

2)  Concierge costs for Queensbridge/De Beauvoir were partially excluded from the overall contract sum and this amendment adjusted the Total Expenditure for 2007/08, to £8.487m.

3)  The increase between 2007/08 and 2008/09 was based on an uplift of approx 1.9%, where as 2008/09 to 2009/10 was 1.0%.

Figure 5.1 - Original Report Figures – page 49

£’000 Actual

Expenditure

2007/2008

£’000 Actual

Expenditure

2008/09

£’000Estimated

Outturn

2009/10

North East – Pinnacle

£2,028

£1,580

£2,083

North West – Pathmeads

£1,670

£1,522

£1,579

Homerton – Mouchel

£1,759

£1,711

£1,934

Queensbridge & De Beauvoir – Mouchel

£1,505

£1,515

£1,563

Shoreditch – Pinnacle

£1,474

£1,366

£1,448

Total Expenditure

£8,436

£7,694

£8,607

In reply to a question Neehara Wijeyesekera confirmed that there was not a measure in the contract for quality of responses to member and resident enquiries although he felt that this KPI could be added to the contract and also stated that data had been collected that showed that resident’s satisfaction with regards to repairs overall had improved.

Neehara Wijeyesekera stated that the stage 1 complaints and anti social behaviour were recorded separately and could not confirm whether there was an under reporting of anti social behaviour at this stage as this monitoring had not yet been carried out for a whole year.  In reply to another question Neehara Wijeyesekera said that all partners dealing with anti social behaviour issues were improving their staff training and addressing problems in this area and that  the Government had introduced further legislation to tackle anti social behaviour which should help Officers dealing with it.

RESOLVED To note this report.

Clerks note it was at this part of the proceedings that Councillor Alcock left the meeting.

This report details the operation of the Community Drug Services contract.

Laurence Wrenne, Drug Action Team Manager, introduced the report as set out  He stated that the 3rd box down in the table at paragraph 9.9.1, page 65 of the report should have been amended to read 'Number of People in treatment over the course of the year (Target 550)'. The figure achieved was 817’.  In reply to a question Laurence Wrenne stated that the increase in demand for the service was not due to the increase of drug users in Hackney as this had fallen by 20% but due to the success of the service, referrals had increased.

RESOLVED to approve this report

This report seeks to gain approval for the Chief Executive to appoint the main contractor to deliver the South Marsh Hub Building in accordance with the procurement strategy laid out in the Review Point 2 report agreed by Cabinet Procurement Committee in June 2009.

RESOLVED

1.  To note the decision making and selection process outlined in this report for the procurement of (Lot 1) Statutory Mechanical Inspection and Testing including responsive maintenance; (Lot 2) Statutory Electrical Inspection and Testing and responsive maintenance and (Lot 3) Responsive Building Repair and Maintenance.

2.  To agree the proposal to award the three year contracts to commence 1^st December 2009 to Supplier E for (Lot 1), Supplier E (Lot 2) and Supplier B for (Lot 3).  The term of each of the contracts will be three years with an option to extend for a further two. 

3.  To authorise the Director of Legal Services to draw up the necessary documentation to enter into the contracts with the recommended bidders.

Belinda Black Corporate Director of Customer & Corporate Services, introduced the report as set out.  In reply to a question she confirmed that it was not viable at this stage to bring this service back in-house due to the lack of knowledge and basic systems available.  Officers confirmed that the London Living Wage would apply to staff with regard to this contract. Members were concerned that there wasn’t any information in the report that confirmed that comparisons with similar buildings had been carried out; Officers confirmed that some comparisons had been carried out.

RESOLVED

1.  To note the decision making and selection process outlined in this report for the procurement of (Lot 1) Statutory Mechanical Inspection and Testing including responsive maintenance; (Lot 2) Statutory Electrical Inspection and Testing and responsive maintenance and (Lot 3) Responsive Building Repair and Maintenance.

2.  To agree the proposal to award the three year contracts to commence 1^st December 2009 to Supplier E for (Lot 1), Supplier E (Lot 2) and Supplier B for (Lot 3).  The term of each of the contracts will be three years with an option to extend for a further two. 

3.  To authorise the Director of Legal Services to draw up the necessary documentation to enter into the contracts with the recommended bidders.

This report seeks the approval to award the Cleaning Services Contract (Lot 1) to Bidder B. The Contract is for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years.

RESOLVED

1.  To note the decision making and selection process outlined in this report for the procurement of the Cleaning Services and Cleaning Consumables contracts.

2.  To agree the award of the Council’s Cleaning Services Contract (Lot 1) to commence 1^st December 2009 to Bidder B with a value of £2,912,862 over its minimum term of three years, which is extendable by up to 2 years, however officers will investigate the cost and implication of going for 2 years break clause

3.  To agree the proposal to not award the contract for the cleaning consumables (Lot 3).

4.  To authorise the Director of Legal Services to draw up the necessary documentation to enter into the contract for Lot 1 with the recommended Bidder.

5.  To note that proposals regarding generating cashable efficiency savings may reduce the value of the contract set out in recommendation 3 .3 and note these proposals in relation to the London Living Wage set out in paragraph 10.3.2.

Belinda Black introduced the report as set out.  Members were disappointed that the London Living Wage would not be applied to all staff involved in this contract.  Officers stated the reasons for this as detailed in paragraphs 2.7 and 10.3.2 of the report and confirmed that this issue would continue to be pursued in future procurements.

RESOLVED

1.  To note the decision making and selection process outlined in this report for the procurement of the Cleaning Services and Cleaning Consumables contracts.

2.  To agree the award of the Council’s Cleaning Services Contract (Lot 1) to commence 1^st December 2009 to Bidder B with a value of £2,912,862 over its minimum term of three years, which is extendable by up to 2 years, however officers will investigate the cost and implication of going for 2 years break clause

3.  To agree the proposal to not award the contract for the cleaning consumables (Lot 3).

4.  To authorise the Director of Legal Services to draw up the necessary documentation to enter into the contract for Lot 1 with the recommended Bidder.

5.  To note that proposals regarding generating cashable efficiency savings may reduce the value of the contract set out in recommendation 3 .3 and note these proposals in relation to the London Living Wage set out in paragraph 10.3.2.

This report provides an update on the projects and contracts which form part of the Service First Accommodation programme up to the third quarter of 2009.

Members had some concerns with this report particularly the length of time the contract had been extended for considering a contract had been let earlier in the year for a Corporate E-recruitment System. Officers stated that this contract was to support the on line system for one year and agreed that the title of the report was slightly misleading.

RESOLVED that

1. Caroline Anderson, Assistant Director of Human Resources and Organisation Development, be asked to attend the next meeting of Cabinet Procurement Committee to explain how the extension of this contract impacted on the original savings in the Corporate E-Recruitment System Contract and why this project appeared to be disjointed.

ACTION: DEMOCRATIC SERVICES

1. Patrick Rodgers, Legal Officer, would speak to Caroline Anderson about this issue.

ACTION: PATRICK RODGERS