Decision

RESOLVED: Cabinet;

1. Authorised procurement of a new bus shelter advertising contract.
2. Endorsed the proposal that WNC funds the provision of new shelters, subject to the Director of Finance approving the use of capital once the actual costs are known.

REASONS RESOLVED:

1. Provided one consistent approach to providing and maintaining bus shelters.
2. To maximise the potential for advertising revenue whilst respecting the Council’s advertising policy, which seeks to balance commercial and policy (particularly public health) objectives.
3. To comply with public procurement law.
4. To enable the Council to add or remove bus shelters when it considers it needs to do so.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

1. Option 1: Take no action. This would involve leaving shelters under their current arrangements, including the expired AdShel contract (or alternatively definitively ending that contract and leaving any remaining shelters for WNC to maintain).
2. Option 2: WNC providing shelters itself, and separately selling advertising space. To be attractive, this would require WNC to be as efficient in delivering and maintaining shelters as the operators are, and as effective at selling advertising as the operators. This appears unlikely.
3. Option 3: Procuring an advertising concession contract as set out above. This appears capable of delivering the service with the greatest efficiency. There are two sub-options which need consideration:

Option 3A: WNC does not fund shelter provision except where it instructs new shelters not proposed by the operator. This would require operators to fund all capital costs, reducing revenue benefits. It would also leave unresolved the issue of managing the risk of the need for mass replacement of AdShel shelters.

Option 3B: WNC funds all new shelter provision (including the mass replacement of AdShel shelters if required). This should maximise revenue benefits, and also provides a simple mechanism to address the risk of needing to replace the AdShel shelters.

1. Option 4: Procuring several contracts. There is no obvious benefit of operating more than one contract. Such an approach would be likely to reduce operator interest and lose economies of scale.