Content

Salford City Council – Record of
Decision
 
I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the
Council Constitution
do hereby approve:
 
·     
to Award the Contract forMicrosoft 365 Licensing 1
Year Extension, as
detailed in the table below:

Detail
required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Microsoft 365 Licensing – 1 Year
Extension

Procurement Reference numbers (DN
and CR number supplied by Procurement)

S1080

Name of Successful
Contractor

Phoenix Software Ltd

Supplier Registration
Number
(to be supplied by
Procurement

02548628

Proclass Classification
No.
(to be completed by
procurement)

271430

Type of
organisation
(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private Limited
Company

Status of
Organisation
(to be supplied by
Procurement)

SME

Contract Value
(£)

£     1,265,028    
per annum

Total contract value £
(including extensions)

£      1,265,028   
total project value

Contract
Duration

12 months

Contract Start
Date

01/06/2025

Contract End
Date

31/05/2026

Optional Extension Period
1

months

Optional Extension Period
2

months

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Choose an item

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

Gary Pickup / Matt Wall

 

 

 

Lead Service
Group

Reform &
Transformation

How the
contract was procured?
(to be supplied by
procurement)

Direct Award/ Call
off

Framework Details (where
applicable)
(procurement body, framework
reference & title, start/ end date

Crown Commercial Services Technology
Products and Associated Services Framework, ref
RM6098

Funding
Source

Revenue Budget

Ethical Contractor (EC):
Mayor’s Employment Charter

Choose an item.
 

EC: Committed to sign The
Mayor’s Employment Charter

Choose an item.
 
 

EC: Committed to the principles
outlined in the Mayor’s Employment
charter

Choose an item.
 

EC: Accredited Living Wage
Employer

Choose an item.
 

EC: Committed to becoming
Accredited Living wage Employer

Choose an item.
?

 
The Reasons are:
the extension of the current contract to align with
the conclusion of the existing Enterprise Agreement. This retains
the Microsoft 365 E5 license model thereby maintaining the
Council’s current cybersecurity posture and compliance
standards whilst minimising the operational and administrative
disruption of a mid-term channel partner transition.
 
The extension represents the
lowest-risk option in terms of budget predictability and service
continuity whilst providing sufficient time for a comprehensive
tender process in 2026 aligned with the Council’s Digital
Strategy and internal [MY]AI Programme.
 
Options considered and
rejected: were a mini-tender exercise with potential transition to
a new channel partner.
 
ASSESSMENT OF RISK: Low.
Licensing would continue but across multiple contract agreements
that do not have synchronised end dates or synchronised
pricing.
 
SOURCE OF FUNDING: The Budget
that will meet the cost of the scheme
 
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: Supplied
by: The Shared Legal Service:
When commissioning contracts
for the procurement of goods, services or the execution of works,
the Council must comply with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA) and its
own Contractual Standing Orders (CSO’s), failing which a
contract may be subject to legal challenge from an aggrieved
provider. For contracts of this value, the Council would usually
advertise its requirements on the Chest portal.
 
Whilst exceptions to
CSO’s may be authorised by a decision notice from Procurement
Board for the value of this purchase as detailed in section 3 of
Part 5 of the Constitution there is still a risk of challenge from
aggrieved providers if the usual tender process has not been
followed.
 
In any event, PA permits sole
sourcing and/or direct award of a contract to be made to a
contractor in limited circumstances, as set out in Section 41 which
provides that a direct agreement can be made where it is based on
one of the justifications set out in schedule 5 of the PA. These
justifications, for the most part, reflect the existing grounds
from regulation 32 of the PCR 2015, covering familiar territory
such as “an absence of competition for technical
reasons”; extension to existing supplies where a change in
supplier would result in a “difference or
incompatibility” and “disproportionate technical
difficulties” (as here); advantageous terms in an insolvency;
and “strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and
unavoidable urgency”.
 
The risk of any challenge
increases in tandem with the value and length of the award, and in
this instance, as noted in the report, the proposed extended term
is relatively short (a 12-month period). The Council is also under
a best value duty to carry out its functions economically,
efficiently and effectively with the objective to achieve value for
money in all public procurement. Two options were considered
including the inherent risks of appointing a new provider and it
was considered the extension of the current agreement to be of most
benefit and least risk, particularly when taking into account the need to maintain continuity
of service, compliance requirements and social value
benefits.
 
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Submitted by: Paul Guest – Senior Accountant
23/04/25
Salford City Council utilises
Microsoft Office 365 as its core productivity platform,
encompassing applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. These services are delivered under
the Microsoft 365 (M365) subscription-based licensing model, and are provided via a Licensing Solution
Provider (Phoenix Software Ltd). The report seeks to extend this
contract for a further 12 months whilst a full procurement exercise
is carried out for renewal in 2026. There is provision within the
DDaT budget to fund this
contract.
 
PROCUREMENT IMPLICATIONS:
Supplied by: Emma Heyes, Category Manager
The proposed route to market
for the renewal of the Microsoft licencing will be via a direct
award under Lot 3 (Software) of the Crown Commercial Services
Technology Products and Associated Services Framework, ref RM6098,
which was procured under Public Contracts Regulations
2015.
 
Direct award is permissible on
this framework, and contracting authorities must satisfy themselves
that the call-off procedure is compliant with the framework rules
and their own internal governance.
 
The Buyers Guide of this
framework states that contracting authorities must ensure that the
direct award proposal that you have obtained from your preferred
supplier is best value for money.
 
Framework Schedule 6a Short
Order Form must be completed to form the contract between the
parties, which must be sealed by legal services.
 
CLIMATE CHANGE
IMPLICATIONS:  Supplied by: Michael
Hemmingway, Principal Officer Climate Change
Microsoft are aiming to be
carbon negative by 2030 and provide a sustainability report for
their activities including data centres where Microsoft 365
completes remote actions.  The use of
Microsoft 365 facilitates flexible working including home working
which means that unnecessary commuting is not necessary resulting
in reduced emissions locally.
 
Climate change implications
should be considered as part of the development and procurement of
any new systems.
 
Contact Officer: Gary Pickup, Modern Operations Portfolio
Lead
Telephone number:
 
 

Signed:   Paul
Dennett        Dated:     19 May 2025.
           
      City
Mayor
 

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE
ONLY:
 
*          
This decision was published on 20 May 2025
*          
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 28 May 2025
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making
Process Rules.