Purpose

1.   
To approve a contract extension requested by the
supplier, namely Gigaclear, who was
appointed by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and Herefordshire
Council under two contracts for the delivery of broadband
infrastructure as part of Stage 3 of the Fastershire delivery programme. This change request
is linked to a previous change agreed in March 2023.
 
·        
Contract extension 1: Lot 2/3 (c) – from
December 2023 – for the period until December 2024
·        
Contract extension 2: Lot 3 (e) – from June
2023 – for the period until December 2024
 
2.   
To extend for a period of one year the term of the
Fastershire Partnership Agreement
between Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) and Herefordshire
Council to 31 March 2025. The proposed one-year extension will
ensure the Fastershire Team remains in
place to manage the remainder of the delivery and closedown of the
Stage 3 contracts with Gigaclear.
 
3.  
Authorisation is also sought for GCC to sign a
Project Gigabit Partnership Agreement between the County Council
and Building Digital UK (BDUK). This agreement outlines the role
GCC will have within the project as it is delivered across
Gloucestershire by commercial suppliers appointed by
BDUK.
 
Any
representations should be sent to Ben Watts by 5.00pm on Wednesday
21 February 2024
 
Tel 01452 426771
Email ben.watts@gloucestershire.gov.uk

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 and also the relevant
Equality Impact Assessment, which was prepared in accordance with
the requirements of the Act. Having fully considered all the
available information, I have decided to reject the alternative
options and take the recommended decision to:
 
1. Approve the
following extension to the terms of two contracts for the delivery
of broadband infrastructure services between Gloucestershire County
Council and Herefordshire Council and Gigaclear that were awarded as part of Stage 3 of
the Fastershire delivery programme
described in Table 1 of this report:
 
(a) a 12-month
extension (expiring December 2024) to the term of the contract
relating to the provision of such services in Gloucestershire (West
of the River Severn locality), under Lot 2/3 (c) thereof;
and
 
(b) an 18-month
extension (expiring December 2024) to the term of the contract
relating to the provision of such services in the south of
Gloucestershire locality under Lot 3 (e) thereof
 
 in order to address
ongoing delivery resourcing difficulties experienced by
Gigaclear.
 
2. Approve an
extension to the term of the Fastershire Partnership Agreement between
Gloucestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council until 31
March 2025 for the purpose of managing the remainder of the
delivery and closedown of the [two contracts described in
Recommendation 1 above].
 
3. Approve the
signing of the Project Gigabit Partnership agreement between the
County Council and Building Digital UK (BDUK). This agreement
outlines the role GCC will have within the project as it is
delivered across Gloucestershire by commercial suppliers appointed
by BDUK.
 
For the reasons set
out in the report.