Purpose

This report sets out
the background to the Internet Connectivity provision provided to
Sefton schools who opt in to this service from the Council and
proposes the associated procurement route required to renew the
service for those schools who have expressed an interest in
continuing with the service.
 

Decision

Decision(s):

 
1)   
The authorised procurement exercise to renew the
connectivity service, which comprised direct internet lines,
firewalls, and web-filtering, for Sefton schools that opted to
continue with this service, be noted.
2)   
The granted delegated authority to award a contract
resulting from the procurement exercise and any allowable optional
extensions permitted within the Contract, be noted.

 

Reason(s) for the Decision(s):

 

   
The end date of the current 3-year contract term is
31-Mar-27.  Subject to Cabinet Member
approval, a procurement exercise will need to be completed as
detailed above within the report which may take several
months.  A target for completion will be
December 2026 to allow circa 3-months for any new services to be
installed ready for services to commence on 1-Apr-27.
 

Alternative Options Considered and
Rejected:

 
There were
two options considered and rejected:
 
1)   
To complete a Direct Award to the incumbent
provider.  However, as a direct award
was used for the current contract and the hardware in place
requires refreshing, the correct decision is to open this
procurement to the market to ensure that the correct solution is in
place for schools.

2)   
To stop offering this service to schools and allow
them to procure their own internet lines, firewalls and web
filtering solutions.  This option was
discussed with members at the time of procuring the new ICT Managed
Services contract and was not supported politically.  It must also be noted that the cost to the
authority is not material i.e. it would not reduce any staffing or
the costs of the ICT Client service.