Decision Maker: Procurement Board

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: April 28, 2025

Purpose:

Content: Salford City Council – Record of Decision   Detail required Answers Title/Description of Contracted Service/Supply/Project Confirm on Demand software system Procurement Reference numbers (DN and CR number supplied by Procurement) DN739607 / S1336 Name of Successful Contractor Brightly (A Siemens Company) Supplier Registration Number (to be supplied by Procurement 12838751 Proclass Classification No. (to be completed by procurement) 270000 Type of organisation (to be supplied by Procurement) Private Limited Company Status of Organisation (to be supplied by Procurement) Non-SME Contract Value (£) Year 1 Total £115,605.92 Year 2 Total £108,105.92 Year 3 Total £108,105.92 Year 4 £112,350.15 (optional extension) Total contract value £ (including extensions) £444,167.91 total project value Contract Duration 36 months Contract Start Date 01/04/2025 Contract End Date 31/03/2028 Optional Extension Period 1 1 year 01/04/2028 - 31/03/2029 Optional Extension Period 2 N/A Who will approve each Extension Period? Executive Director (extension < £150k) Contact Officer (Name & number) Matthew Wylie tel. 0161 7932041 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:   to Award the Contract for the Confirm On Demand software system, as detailed in the table below:         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 G-Cloud 14 Funding Source Revenue Budget Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s Employment Charter N/A   EC: Committed to sign The Mayor’s Employment Charter N/A     EC: Committed to the principles outlined in the Mayor’s Employment charter N/A   EC: Accredited Living Wage Employer Yes   EC: Committed to becoming Accredited Living wage Employer N/A ?   The Reasons are: The Confirm on Demand application is a strategic asset management tool supporting delivery of the highways and street scene services including Highway Network Management, Construction Services, GMRAPS Integration, street lighting maintenance, street cleansing, grounds maintenance including parks and play areas.   The system provides a hosted web based and desktop platform for officers to perform routine and reactive work and a mobile app for operational teams to utilise around the City.   Options considered and rejected were: Changing supplier or system was not considered feasible due to the resources committed to other large scale IT projects, including the councils cloud migration, a two year system migration for planning and building control and a review of the HR and finance systems (Project Genesis).   However, Place customers were consulted on a re-contract and a consensus was agreed to re-procure the Confirm system. Of relevance, was the ‘Reach Project’ – a project to improve both the customer journey / experience for highways related transactions and the efficiency of the related back-office processes. This project is scheduled to commence in 2025 and the preference was to retain the existing system and prioritise delivering the aims of the Reach project.   Assessment of Risk: In order to address the risk of increase in software licensing costs, a full review and analysis of the concurrent licence usage was undertaken. This identified peak licence usage per day for both desktop and mobile users and resulted in reduction of licences for the new contract. The new contract also includes provision for Confirm learn – an online staff training platform to support the services using the application.   The source of funding is: There is provision within the DDaT budget to fund this software and represents a saving of £50,832.09 from the previous contract. DDaT Place Systems cost centre C1030.   Legal Advice obtained: Supplied by: Tony Hatton, Solicitor Group Leader, Commercial Legal and Democratic Services, Manchester Shared Legal Service. When procuring contracts for the procurement of goods, services, or the execution of works, the Council must comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR) (for procurements which commenced before 24th February 2025) and its own Contractual Standing Orders (CSO’s), failing which a contract may be subject to a legal challenge from an aggrieved provider. The proposed award of this contract follows a selection exercise to enable a direct call-off in accordance with the Crown Commercial Services G-Cloud 13 Framework Agreement for the confirm on demand software system.   The Council will need to have followed the procedure set out in the framework agreement to ensure the procurement process is compliant in accordance with the terms of the Crown Commercial G-Cloud 14 Framework Agreement. Following the selection exercise, it is proposed to directly award the contract to Brightly for the supply of the confirm on demand software system. The procurement procedures appear robust and compliant with the requirements of the Council’s CSO’s and PCR.   Financial Advice obtained: Submitted by: Paul Guest – SCC Senior Accountant The Confirm software application is an essential strategic asset management tool supporting the Place directorate in managing its assets. Confirm is a hosted web-based application that also includes a desktop and mobile app to enable operational staff to manage routine and reactive work around the city, ensuring that officers can receive and report on job requests whilst out in the City, without having to return to the depot. There is provision within the DDaT budget to fund this software.   Procurement Advice obtained: Supplied by: Emma Heyes, Category Manager, The Corporate Procurement Team Crown Commercial Services, GCloud 14 is a compliant framework accessible to all public sector organisations.   Buyers are to ensure that they comply with all the requirements of the call-off procedures set out in the GCloud14 User Guide. The online digital marketplace is used to select providers based on a buyer’s requirements and filtering the results by using keywords to arrive at a shortlist.   In this case Brightly Software (Confirm on Demand) is the only solution that meets all of the Council’s requirements.   The GCloud 14 Call-Off Order Form should be completed to form the contract between the parties.   Additionally, the contract will require sealing by legal services as the total value exceeds £75k.   HR Advice obtained: N/A   Climate Change Implications obtained: N/A   Contact Officer: Matthew Wylie Telephone number: 0161 7932041   Please delete from the bullets below any which are not relevant: ·      This matter is also subject to consider by the Lead Member for Resources & Transformation. The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract. ·      This matter is not subject to consideration by another Lead Member. ·      The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is the     Signed:   Cllr J Youd           Dated:    28 April 2025.                Lead Member   FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY:   *           This decision was published on 28 April 2025 *           This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 6 May 2025 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.