Purpose

This report seeks approval for the award of a
contract to an external legal services provider to take conduct of
High Court litigation on behalf of the Council.

Decision

For the reasons set out in this report, the
Corporate Director has decided to:
 
1)   
Grant authority for the Council to award a contract for legal
services to the highest ranking supplier named in the Appendix to
this report, to take conduct of the litigation detailed in this
report.

Alternative options considered

1.1         
As tenders were scored in accordance with the advertised scoring
methodology, there is no alternative option as regards the choice
of supplier. Changing the intended supplier would result in
disregarding the scoring and leave the exercise open to
challenge.
1.2         
With reference to the procurement itself, there were alternative
options in respect of whether a framework agreement should be used
or if a bespoke procurement exercise should be undertaken. However,
a framework agreement is considered to be the most appropriate
procurement mechanism given it offers a pre-procured panel of
suppliers, together with a simplified process for the invitation of
quotations/tenders.
1.3         
In the circumstances, ‘doing nothing’ is not considered
a viable option because there is insufficient internal resource to
undertake this litigation and although the Council’s Legal
Services department has taken initial steps to safeguard the
interests of the Council, it cannot continue the litigation in the
long term.