Decision Maker:

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: July 28, 2025

Purpose:

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.