Purpose

To seek approval to
increase the aggregate value for the Council’s eleven
insurance contracts

Decision

In coming to this
decision I have given due and full
regard to the requirements of the public sector equality duty
contained in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (“the
Act”) by reference to the law itself.
 
Having fully
considered all the available information, I have decided to reject
the alternative options and take the recommended decision to:
 
Delegate
authority to the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of
Corporate Resources to increase the estimated aggregate value of
eleven insurance contracts that are the subject of a competitive
procurement process that is currently underway.
 
The proposed
estimated aggregate value of such contracts over the initial
three year contract period should be
increased from the estimated sum referred to in the Individual
Cabinet Member decision dated 28th March 2023 (i.e. £1.26m
pa) to a sum not exceeding £1.89m per annum. This potential
increase is based on advice provided by the Council’s
insurance broker who advised that insurance premiums across the
insurance market have risen significantly (by up to 50%) since the
Council last tendered for insurance services.
The final cost
will not be known until the tenders have been received and
evaluated.
 
This increase
will be funded from surplus funds in the Insurance Fund Reserve for
the initial three year contract period.
Following the conclusion of the procurement process (when actual
costs will be known) an assessment will be made as to whether the
Reserve could fund the two year
extension. If not then the insurance
contracts will either need to be retendered or an MTFS bid
submitted for the period post June 2027
 
For the reasons
set out in the report.