Content

Salford City Council – Record of
Decision
 
I Councillor Youd, Lead Member
for Finance and Support Services and chairman of the Procurement
Board, in exercise of the powers contained within the
Council Constitution
do hereby approve:
 
1. 
Approve the procurement of resources, for up to 4 roles from consultancy
companies to support the delivery of the Infrastructure programme in the Place
Directorate.
 
2. 
Approve the procurement of resources through a mini
competition via the Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Professional Services Framework or alternative compliant
route.
 
3. 
Approve the allocation of up to £600,000 from
the Place Revenue Reserves programme to fund the resource over the
period of 1 year.
 
4. 
Delegate the approval to commission the preferred
supplier for each role following the procurement exercise to the
Executive Director of Place on the condition that the submitted
price is less than £150,000 for each role.
 

 
The Reasons are:
Salford’s programme of
Infrastructure work is a key component of delivering the City
Council’s ambitions for growth and our aims to reduce the
carbon impact of travel across the city. To progress this pipeline,
additional staff are needed across the technical teams in the Place
Directorate develop and deliver projects, business cases and
strategy documents that are essential to the programme and bidding
for grant funding to maximise its impact.
 
Options considered and rejected
were:
A major recruitment exercise to
try and fill vacant posts in the Infrastructure and Engineering
Design teams was undertaken in April 2024. This involved
advertising vacant posts and included more targeted advertising of
the posts compared to an exercise to advertise for the same posts
which was unsuccessful in 2023. However, despite an extensive
advertising campaign and interviews no suitable experienced
candidates were appointed to these roles.
 
Across Technical Services, the
Council continues to face challenges of recruiting suitably
experienced technical officers, driven to a large extent by external market
forces. This growing volume of outsourcing without a long term strategy does
not always represent good value for money. Over the last 18 months,
the Council has been exploring future service delivery models for
Technical Services, to remedy the recruitment issues it faces.
Further feasibility work is now underway around the preferred
option, along with detailed business planning, before a decision is
made by the Council on the appropriate way forward.
 
Until a decision is reached on
a future service delivery model, the pressures to deliver mean it
is recommended that support is procured from third party
consultants.
 
Assessment of Risk: High.
If the roles are not covered by
consultant resource the Council does not have the ability to
progress/deliver the Infrastructure programme against which it has
already secured funding or support the submission of funding bids
to secure new projects that benefit the City
and our residents.
 
The source of funding
is:
The funding for these roles
will be underwritten using Place Revenue Reserves drawing on a
£600,000 allocation of funding covering the four roles set
out in the report. The aim would be to recover these costs where
eligible from future grant awards as projects are developed and put
forwards for grant funding opportunities. This will then reduce the
pressure on the reserves allocation wherever possible.
Elements of the work, such as the Local Implementation Plan update,
won’t be recoverable from grant but will enable
Salford’s needs to be updated as part of the Greater
Manchester Transport Strategy ensuring that our priorities are
articulated to government for funding.
 
Legal Advice obtained – Supplied by: Tony Hatton, Principal Solicitor:
When
commissioning contracts for the procurement of goods, services or
the execution of works, the Council must comply with the public
procurement regulations and its own Contractual Standing Orders
(CSO’s), failing which a contract may be subject to legal
challenge from an aggrieved provider. CSO’s apply to every
contract, including temporary ones, for the procurement of
supplies, services and the execution of works undertaken by or on
behalf of the Council, subject to certain exceptions listed in the
Orders. CSO’s stipulate that where a suitable framework
agreement exists, this must be used unless there is an auditable
reason not to.
 
In
awarding the consultancy appointments using the call-off procedure
under the Stockport Framework Agreement – Lots 1 and 2 (or
other compliant route to market using a consultancy framework), the
Council will need to have followed the procedure set out in the
framework agreement for mini competition to ensure the procurement
process is compliant. Bids should be evaluated on the most
economically advantageous tender basis in line with published
procedures. The procurement procedures therefore appear robust and
compliant with the requirements of the Council’s CSO’s
and public procurement legislation.
 
The terms and conditions
established under the framework agreement govern the contracts let
under the framework although each contract will inevitably have
some differences to reflect the agreement struck between the
parties to the contract.
 
Financial Advice
obtained –
Supplied by: Hollie Faulkner, Finance
Manager:
This procurement board report
details the requirements for additional resources within the
Infrastructure and Highways team to develop the pipeline programme
of works. The development and delivery of this pipeline and the
associated business cases will enable the team to bid for and
secure grant funding. Whilst a future service delivery model is
under review, this report seeks to utilise third party consultants
across four roles at a maximum cost of £600,000 over the next
12-months. This cost can be funded from Place revenue reserves in
the first instance. For transparency the consultants will be
required to complete timesheets detailing each scheme. Wherever
possible costs will be recovered from any grant funding which
becomes available and the ask on reserves reduced.
 
Procurement Advice obtained
– Supplied by: Emma Heyes, Category
Manager:
Whilst the appointment of
external consultants does not represent the best value for money
for the Council, the further competitions between the suppliers on
the SMBC Professional Services framework should elicit competitive
market rates for these appointments.
 
The Professional Services
framework was procured by STAR Procurement on behalf of Stockport
Metropolitan Borough Council as the Lead Contracting Authority. The
procurement process was conducted via a full OJEU restricted
procedure and is therefore complaint with the Public Contract
Regulations 2015.
 
The Procurement team will
assist with the publishing of the further competitions via the
Council’s Chest portal and will offer advice and guidance on
the procurement process.
 
HR Advice obtained
– Supplied by: Neelum Mahmood, HR &
OD Business Partner:
While the delivery of the
infrastructure programme may not represent the best value for the
Council in the long run, it will provide short-term relief for
immediate project demands.
 
There have been challenges in
previous recruitment campaigns which sought to attract highly
specialised individuals from a small talent pool. In the longer
term, HR will work with the service by adjusting the recruitment
strategy to target a higher level of expertise. This approach would
provide a more sustainable solution and aim to build internal
capacity to manage projects without continuous reliance on external
consultants.
 
In the longer term, it is
essential to reduce the Council’s over-reliance on external
consultancy firms. While there may be a need for specialist support
in some areas, developing and retaining project management
capabilities internally will strengthen the Council’s ability
to deliver complex infrastructure projects in the future. This is
particularly important in the context of Salford’s growth
ambitions, where the Council will continue to face high demand for
skilled technical staff.
 
Outsourcing entire schemes to
third-party consultancy firms should be considered when necessary
and not as a default approach to overcoming recruitment
challenges.
 
Climate Change Implications
obtained – Supplied by: Chris Smith,
Head of Infrastructure:
The Infrastructure work
programme supports the delivery of aspirations in the Greater
Manchester 2040 Transport Strategy which seeks to deliver a step
change in how people travel across Greater Manchester with the
aspiration for 50% of all journeys to be made by walking, cycling
and public transport. These roles contribute towards the delivery
of Salford’s Infrastructure programme which seeks to promote
sustainable modes as part of Salford’s commitment reducing
the carbon impacts associated with travel in our City.
 
Contact Officer: Chris Smith
Telephone number: 0161 7944893
 
·     
This matter is not subject to consideration by
another Lead Member.
 
·     
The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the
decision is the Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel.
 
 

Signed:    Cllr J
Youd          Dated:
   25 November
2024.
           
   Lead Member
 

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE
ONLY
 
*          
This decision was published on 25 November 2024.
*          
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 2 December 2024
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.