This meeting of the Hackney Procurement Board was not a public meeting. It was for officers to take key procurement decisions. The decisions taken would be published after the meeting on Hackney Council's website.

Dockless cycle hire procurement business case

A report pack was provided for the attendees that contains a business case for procuring new contracts for dockless cycle hire services in Hackney. The business case recommends running a tender process to award the contracts to a maximum of two operators.

The report pack states that:

Hackney has a long history of operating shared mobility services and has worked to innovate and support shared mobility schemes with operators. Hackney residents are one of the highest users of shared mobility services within London.

The business case was developed following a soft market testing exercise with cycle hire operators in November 2024.

If the recommendation to procure new contracts is approved, it is proposed that the new contract would start in August 2025 and would last for five years. It is proposed that the contracts would be funded by the operators who would pay Hackney Council a fee and share a proportion of their revenue from the cycle hire scheme with the Council. The report pack states that the business case was developed with the aim that the contracts will generate a revenue for the Council.

The total value of the contract across the duration of the contracts is estimated to be £93 million. It is estimated that if two contracts are awarded, the operator awarded the larger contract would generate £8 million in annual gross revenue and the operator awarded the smaller contract would generate £5 million in annual gross revenue. The report pack estimates that the Council's annual income from the contract would be at least £250,000, which is an increase on the £76,250 it currently receives from cycle hire operator Lime UK.

There is currently one cycle hire operator in Hackney - Lime UK - who operate a dockless cycle hire service under a concession agreement with the Council. The service is available to users aged 18 or over, with vehicles available to hire from a network of 173 on-street parking bays.

The report pack details a number of learnings and challenges from the existing service. These include the need for mandatory cycle training for users, and the need for a tariff comparable to a single bus fare, to ensure the affordability of the service to residents.

The report pack states that there is potential for Hackney to join a London-wide contract or licensing framework for dockless e-bikes in the future. It is stated that any London-wide contract or licensing framework would not start until July 2026.

Provision of support services for disabled children services

A report pack was provided for the attendees that contains a business case to procure new contracts for the provision of short break and home care services for disabled children. The business case recommends running an open tender process to appoint providers onto two separate open frameworks - one for short break and home care services and one for overnight care services.

Both contracts would run for four years with an option to extend for a further year, and a combined estimated total cost of £13,360,000 over the five years.

The contracts would replace two existing arrangements that are due to expire - a dynamic purchasing system for the provision of short breaks and a framework agreement for the provision of support services for disabled children, which includes a lot for overnight care. The report pack recommends extending both of these contracts until September 2025.

Under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008, local authorities are required to provide short breaks for families with disabled children. A short break is defined in the report pack as any service that allows a disabled child to have a break from their main carer and also gives that carer a break from their caring responsibilities.

Hackney's short break provision is delivered through a mix of direct provision - which is purchased by the Council - and individual budgets - which families can choose to use to purchase their own provision. Currently, 85% of families that are entitled to short breaks in Hackney access them through an individual budget.

Holiday activities and food programme framework contract award

A report pack was provided for the attendees that contains a proposal to appoint 30 providers to a framework to deliver projects to children and young people as part of the government's Holiday Activities and Food programme.

The report pack states that the programme is a:

national programme for free school meals qualifying children rolled out via local authorities. The aim of the programme is for participants to eat healthily, have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition, be active and complete physical and creative activities during the school holiday period.

The report pack recommends that the framework would start on 1 April 2025 and run for one year. It would have the option to be extended for a further three years, with a total cost of £1,200,000 over four years. The report pack states that the programme will be entirely funded by a grant from the Department for Education.

The 30 providers were selected from a pool of 83 providers who expressed an interest in being part of the framework.

Minutes of the previous meetings

The report pack contains the minutes for two meetings of the Hackney Procurement Board.

Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 10 December 2024

The minutes of the meeting on 10 December 2024 record that the following reports were considered:

• Tyres and Tyre-Related Services: This report proposed awarding a contract to Supplier A for the provision of tyres and tyre-related services for the council's fleet of over 600 vehicles. The minutes record that concern was expressed about a proposed discount to council staff by the recommended supplier, and that further advice was to be sought from Legal Services on social value proposals by the supplier.
• Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Pilot Project: The report pack contains a redacted version of this report, that removes the names of the suppliers that were discussed. This report proposed awarding contracts to two car club operators, Supplier B and Supplier C, to install electric vehicle fast charging infrastructure in the borough. The minutes record that concern was expressed about the payment model for the service.

Minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on Monday 16 December 2024

The minutes of the extraordinary meeting on 16 December 2024 record that a report was considered about the procurement of the Carers Support Service for Unpaid Carers. The minutes record that the contract for the existing service was due to end on 31 March 2025.

The report proposed awarding a contract to Provider B for a period of up to five years, commencing in April 2025, at a cost of £952,917.

The minutes record that the report included the details of six bids that had been received for the contract and that a presentation was made by each of the bidders. The minutes note that none of the bidders' presentations had been strong.