Purpose

To approve the option to extend the contract for a further 2 years commencing on 1 October 2024 for the provision of the agency, interim and temporary workers.

Decision

1. To note that Appendix 2 and 4 are not for publication on the basis that they contain information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) as set out in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

1. To approve the option to extend the contract with Pertemps Limited for a further 2 years, commencing on 1 October 2024, for the provision of the agency, interim and temporary workers.

Reasons for the decision

Working with the supplier has, particularly over the last two years, been highly collaborative as the council focusses on spend control in this area whilst supporting key areas of the Council to meet services demands. The contract extension and arrangements will continue and accelerate that collaboration to control spend whilst remaining adaptive to sudden changes in the labour market.

Alternative options considered

The contract was awarded in 2022 following a mini competition with suppliers through the ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation) MSTAR3 Lot 1a

to ensure both quality and best value for money.

H&F set additional criteria to assess the quality of each submission through a range of different questions specific to the needs of the Council.

The tender evaluation weighting was varied from the standard Contract Standing Orders 60:40 to 50:50 in the procurement strategy and applied to this procurement. This was because The MSTAR 3 Core specification provided reassurance that the assessment already undertaken by ESPO demonstrated suppliers’ capability of providing a comprehensive range of services that incorporates both quality and value for money. The weighting of 50:50 for the further competition was to ensure suppliers were assessed on price and quality equally against the H&F specification.