Purpose

1. On 19th September 2024 (Ref 38), the Executive approved the transfer of Section 106 Assets from developers of Westvale Park including open space, allotments, neighbour hall and play areas in Horley.

2. The Executive resolved that a delegated authority to be given to the Head of Place to run a procurement process to appoint an Artist(s) and to provide project resources to work with the local community to create and install public art in Westvale Park to be funded from £0.354 million of Section 106 funding and for the Chief Finance Officer to allocate the remainder of the contribution to fund future management and maintenance costs, including allocating a specific sum for future capital replacement costs.

3. The Contract Procedural Rules stipulate that contracts awarded above a value of the Procurement Act 2023 threshold, must have Executive authorisation to award the contract. Thus, the Executive delegated decision granted to the Head of Place Delivery, Economic Prosperity and Sustainability to undertake a procurement process to appoint the Lead Artist/Consultant to support the delivery of project, working with the local community to create and install public art in Westvale Park applies.

4. Following completion of a review of route to market options, based on the estimated contract value being above Procurement Act 2023 threshold for provision of services and the project timelines, it was determined to undertake an Open invitation to tender in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. Further information is provided within the attached Part 2 exempt report containing commercial sensitive information.

5. A pre-market engagement notice was published on 11th November 2025 (Ref: 2025/S 000-072899) and the purpose was to gather insights from the artists and creatives to help shape an inspiring, inclusive and achievable public art brief before the formal commissioning process begins.

6. A Tender notice was published on 28th May 2026 (Ref: 2026/S 000-050511) and 12 Tenders were received by the required deadline by 12:00 Noon on 10th July 2026.

7. The ITT pack included the requirement for the Tenderers to submit their completed Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ, which is a standard government template), also their quality and price tender submissions. The pre-determined evaluation criteria were set out in the original published ITT instructions and guidance, including the PSQ, and the Tier One weightings that were applied to Quality (70%) and Price (30%) for the Tenders.

8. The tender responses received from the 12 Tenderers were subject to the initial compliance assessment which was undertaken by Procurement, and the pricing related compliance review by an officer within Place Delivery team with relevant subject matter expertise.

9. Three Tenderers were rejected due to (Further commercial sensitive information provided via the attached Part 2 exempt report):

• Tenderer A: Failing to meet the minimum score threshold relating to question 18 of the PSQ (Technical and Professional capability and experience).

• Tenderer B: Its PSQ submission was identified as non-compliant with the Central Digital Platform registration.

• Tenderer C: Failing to meet the minimum score threshold relating to question 18 of the PSQ (Technical and Professional capability and experience). Also, its pricing submission was identified as non-compliant with the pricing instructions and guidance.

10. This resulted 9 Tenders progressing to the evaluation stage of the quality submissions.

Outcome of Tender Evaluations:

11. The 9 quality method statement responses were submitted to the evaluation panel consisting of 2 evaluators with relevant subject matter expertise, with the requirement to assess the submissions, ensuring their initial scores and feedback in line with the original published scoring allocation criteria, to support the moderation session. The purpose of the moderation is to review independent evaluator scores, resolve discrepancies and agree on a final unified score for each tender. This was chaired by the Council’s Procurement team to ensure objectivity, procedural compliance and transparent audit trail. The outcome of the quality evaluations result is available via the attached Annex 2 Exempt Overview of Quality and Price Results, identifying Tenderer 2 with the highest score of 66.00%.

12. All Tenderers were made aware from the published ITT instructions and guidance, that the allocated budget was £225,000 therefore tenders exceeding this would be rejected in its entirety.

13. The evaluation of the pricing submissions was carried out by the officer within Place Delivery team, who was not involved in the evaluation of the quality submissions and then reviewed by another officer within the Place Delivery team, after the completed quality assessment to undertake due diligence checks. Refer to the confidential Part 2 exempt Annexes 2 and 3 and the exempt Part 2 Report which contain commercially sensitive comparative information, for the submissions received.

14. The outcome of the pricing evaluations is available via the attached Part 2 exempt Annex 3 (Overview of Pricing Submissions – Outcome of completed evaluations) that contains commercially confidential information, identifying Tenderer 7 with the highest score of 30.00% based on the predetermined assessment criteria, where the lowest tendered sum achieves the maximum weighting of 30.00%. Tenderer 2 was the second ranked Tenderer based on its pricing submission.

15. In accordance with the original published ITT instructions and guidance, the combined quality and price score identified Tenderer 2 tender submission as the most advantageous Tenderer with a result of 95.79%.

16. The financial standing assessment incorporated consideration for mitigating potential barriers for micro and small/medium organisations in line with the Procurement Act 2023 and ensuring capacity and viability to deliver the proposed contract.

17. The identified successful Tenderer 2 recommended for award, demonstrated that as part of its proposed delivery, it will be the named Lead Artist/Consultant responsible for the coordination and management of all subcontractors and sole point of contact for the Council, who is an established public art practice.

18. The successful Tenderer also demonstrated strong experience of co-design and how the community can influence the proposed public art. This project will create positive social value outcomes through increased resident participation, improved nature awareness supporting social connection and environmental improvements.

19. It is therefore recommended to award the contract to Tenderer 2 identified in the exempt Part 2 report due to commercial sensitive information, with the highest combined quality and price score of 95.79%, at a total contract sum of £201,400.00.

Consultation
The Head of Place Delivery, Economic Prosperity and Sustainability has engaged with the Portfolio Holder for Place, Planning and Regulatory Services regarding this contract award as part of regular Portfolio Holder briefings where progress in relation to this procurement has been provided.

Reason for Decision
Following a completed procurement exercise, whereby the tender received has been evaluated in accordance with the published evaluation criteria as reflected within the final invitation to tender (ITT) pack in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.

Decision

I, being the Head of Place Delivery, Economic Prosperity and Sustainability, and vested with delegated authority, to authorise the award of contract to Kerry Lemon to be appointed as Lead Consultant/Artist to deliver the Westvale Open Spaces Public Art project at a total contract sum of £201,400 as per the breakdown set out in the attached exempt part 2 Annex 3 and exempt and part 2 report (Commercial Confidentiality). The contract duration for the design, production and installation is 18 months with an option to extend for further six months, subject to the Council’s discretion.

Alternative options considered

For this report, the following options are to be considered:

Option 1 – To proceed with the award of contract for the appointment of Lead Consultant/Artist to deliver the Westvale Open Spaces Public Art contract, engaging with the community to inform the proposed design and production, for installation on site.

Option 2 – Do not approve the recommended award of contract. This is not recommended; a compliant procurement has been completed that identifies a lead artist/consultant that has met the requirements of the contract to deliver public art at Westvale Park in line with the project brief and specification. On this basis, not to award would undermine a successful procurement process and the resources of the local authority and that of the tenderers. There would be a risk of abortive costs being claimed by the participating Tenderers, should the procurement be disbanded and not proceed with award of contract.