Content

Salford City Council – Record of
Decision
 
I Councillor Youd, Lead Member
for Finance and Support Services and chairman of the Procurement
Board), accept the recommendation of the Procurement Board and in
exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do
hereby approve:
 
·     
the award of the contracts for the Greater
Manchester Air Quality Monitoring Network Equipment Servicing,
Maintenance and Data Management, as detailed in the tables
below:
 

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Lot 1 - GMAQN servicing and maintenance will be known
as the Equipment Support Unit (ESU)

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

DN754736 / 
S1001a

Name of Successful
Contractor

Enviro Technology Services Ltd

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

1726773

Proclass
Classification No.

(to be completed by
procurement)

181800 - Environmental Services

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

SME

Contract Value (£)

£ 76K per annum

Total contract value £ (including
extensions)

£ 305K

Contract Duration

24 months

Contract Start Date

01/09/2025

Contract End Date

31/08/2027

Optional Extension Period 1

12 months

Optional Extension Period 2

12 months

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Executive Director (extension <
£150k)

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

Ben Rose  Tel: 0161 607
6964

Lead Service Group

Place

How the contract
was procured?

(to be supplied by
procurement)

ITT

Framework Details (where
applicable)

(procurement body, framework reference
& title, start/ end date

N/A

Funding Source

External Funding Source (please identify
below)

 

Revenue Budget. The cost of the service is split
between the other 9 GM authorities and TfGM, therefore there will
be no contribution from Salford.

Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s
Employment Charter

Yes
 

EC: Accredited Living Wage
Employer

Yes

 

 

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Lot 2 - GMAQN data management will be known as
Greater Manchester Management Control Unit (GMMCU)

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

DN754736 / 
S1001a

Name of Successful
Contractor

Ricardo-AEA Ltd

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

8229264

Proclass
Classification No.

(to be completed by
procurement)

181800 - Environmental Services

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Non-SME

Contract Value (£)

£ 34K per annum

Total contract value £ (including
extensions)

£ 135K

Contract Duration

24 months

Contract Start Date

01/09/2025

Contract End Date

31/08/2027

Optional Extension Period 1

12 months

Optional Extension Period 2

12 months

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Executive Director (extension <
£150k)

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

Ben Rose  Tel: 0161 607
6964

Lead Service Group

Place

How the contract
was procured?

(to be supplied by
procurement)

ITT

Framework Details (where
applicable)

(procurement body, framework reference
& title, start/ end date

N/A

Funding Source

External Funding Source (please identify
below)

 

Revenue Budget. The cost of the service is split
between the other 9 GM authorities and TfGM, therefore there will
be no contribution from Salford.

Ethical Contractor (EC): Committed to
sign The Mayor’s Employment Charter

Yes
 

EC: Committed to becoming Accredited
Living wage Employer

Yes

 

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Inter-calibration & site
audit visits

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

DN754736 / 
S1001a

Name of Successful
Contractor

Ricardo-AEA Ltd

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

8229264

Proclass
Classification No.

(to be completed by
procurement)

181800 - Environmental Services

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Non-SME

Contract Value (£)

£ 23.5K per annum

Total contract value £ (including
extensions)

£ 94K

Contract Duration

24 months

Contract Start Date

01/09/2025

Contract End Date

31/08/2027

Optional Extension Period 1

12 months

Optional Extension Period 2

12 months

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Executive Director (extension <
£150k)

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

Ben Rose  Tel: 0161 607
6964

Lead Service Group

Place

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

N/A

Funding Source

External Funding Source (please identify
below)

 

Revenue Budget. The cost of the service is split
between the other 9 GM authorities and TfGM, therefore there will
be no contribution from Salford.

Ethical Contractor (EC): Committed to
sign The Mayor’s Employment Charter

Yes
 

EC: Committed to becoming Accredited
Living wage Employer

Yes

 
 
The Reasons are: The combined
cost of these services are an average of ~£133K per annum and
will be shared by the other 9 GM authorities and Transport for
Greater Manchester (TfGM). In recognition of the officer time spent
on leading on the procurement of these services and managing the
contracts and associated budget, Salford will not contribute. This
arrangement has been agreed by the participating authorities and
has been in place since 2021.
 
It is intended to initially
award a 2 year contract with the option to extend for a further 2 x
1 year periods. This is to secure a competitive price over 4 years,
to ensure that it is appropriate to renew after 2 years and that
there is financial commitment from the other 9 authorities and TfGM
for the additional years.
 
Options considered and
rejected were:
Not continuing with a joint GM air quality
monitoring network – if the GMAQN is not in place, individual
local authorities may no longer contribute to funding air quality
monitoring in their areas resulting in statutory duties not being
adequately fulfilled and diminished 
quality and quantity of real time air quality monitoring data. The
key benefits of a combined monitoring network and joint funding
approach are:
·        
Safeguarding the future of a comprehensive air
quality real time monitoring network, which will continue to allow
all Greater Manchester authorities to adequately fulfil their
statutory duty in respect of air quality monitoring.
·        
The cost of providing a shared regional network is
spread more equitably across the region.
·        
The combined local authority approach will provide
overall cost savings.
·        
It demonstrates best practice in joint working and
tackling air pollution issues across administrative
boundaries.
·        
Air quality monitoring data provided by the network
is of a consistently high quality and equal to national monitoring
network standards. The data from the 10 GM districts is also
available to view and scrutinise in the same online database. This
ensures that stakeholder confidence in the data remains high and
accessibility barriers are reduced.
 
Assessment of Risk: Medium
– This will be the fourth contract for the service and
maintenance of the Greater Manchester Air Quality Monitoring
network, the first three having run successfully since
2013.  The integrity of the network
benefits all 10 GM authorities and Transport for Greater
Manchester, who use the combined data to draw conclusions and
report on air quality in their area.
 
The source of funding
is: Existing revenue budget: F2496 (Greater Manchester Air Quality
Network)
 
Legal Advice
obtained:
Supplied by: Tony Hatton, Principal Solicitor on
13th May 2025
 
Local Authorities have a
statutory duty under the Environment Act 1995 to monitor and report
on air quality within their area and report the findings to DEFRA.
Section 82 of the Environment Act 1995 provides that every local
authority shall review the air quality within its area, both at the
present time and the likely future air quality.
 
Guidance on the air quality
issues is provided by the Secretary of State under section 88(1) of
the Environment Act 1995, and local authorities must have regard to
it when carrying out their local air quality management duties (at
Policy Guidance PG22 and Technical Guidance TG22).
 
The proposals to award the
contracts follow a tender exercise in accordance with the Public
Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Council’s Contractual
Standing Orders. In following the procedures, any potential
challenge to the award of a contract to a provider from an
aggrieved provider will be significantly reduced, assuming always
that the tender exercise is an open and fair one.
 
The award of the contracts will
commit the Council to two year contracts with the providers, with
the option to extend for two further periods of twelve months
each.
 
Financial Advice
obtained:
Supplied by: Karen Wilcha, Senior Accountant on 11th June
2025
 
This scheme is fully funded by
the contributions made by the other Local Authorities and TfGM who
have signed up to the GMAQN project.
 
Salford previously had core
budget to support their own apportionment. However, following
discussions with the other LA’s the requirement for SCC to
submit a contribution was agreed to be lifted in recognition of
officer time spent upon managing the contracts.
 
There is no financial risk
anticipated.
 
The source of funding is:
External contributions
Expenditure Code:
F2496
 
Procurement Advice
obtained: Supplied by: Daniel Cunliffe,
Category Manager on 7th May 2025
 
The procurement process was
conducted through an open Invitation to Tender (ITT), which was
publicly advertised to ensure broad market engagement. A detailed
account of the process is provided in the report above. The
procedure followed was fair, transparent, and fully compliant with
the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) and the
Council’s Contractual Standing Orders
 
HR Advice
obtained: N/A
 
Climate Change Implications
obtained: Supplied by: Ben Rose,
Regulatory Services Officer on 16th June 2025
 
The Greater Manchester Air
Quality Monitoring network will measure key air pollutant
concentration trends across the conurbation that are of a
consequence of emissions from various sources e.g. road transport,
energy consumption and heating. The continuation of the joint
network will be complimentary to the Salford City Council Carbon
Management Plan and Climate Action Plan, as well as the Greater
Manchester Five Year Environment Plan.
 
The following documents have
been used to assist the decision process: Report submitted to Procurement Board of 28th July
2025 – ‘Approval to Award the Contract for the Greater
Manchester Air Quality Monitoring Network Equipment Servicing,
Maintenance and Data Management.’
 
Contact
Officer:
Ben Rose, Regulatory Services Officer
Telephone
number:
0161 607 6964
 
The appropriate Scrutiny
Committee to call-in the decision is the Community and
Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel
 
 

Signed:    Cllr J
Youd          Dated:    28 July
2025.
           
    Lead Member
 

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE
ONLY
 
*          
This decision was published on 29 July 2025
*          
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 5 August 2025
unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making
Process Rules.