The Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee met on Tuesday 15 February 2011, resolving to award contracts for gas and electricity supply and to proceed with a two-lot procurement for parking enforcement and CCTV services. The committee also received updates on the Directorate Procurement Forward Plan for Legal and Democratic Services.

Directorate Procurement Forward Plan for Legal and Democratic Services

Gifty Edila, Corporate Director of Legal and Democratic Services, presented the procurement forward plan for her division. Councillor Feryal Demirci inquired whether the costs of using external barristers were benchmarked against other boroughs. Ms Edila explained that the annual spend was around £500,000, which was in line with other boroughs, and that further benchmarking would incur additional costs. Regarding future options for security and cleaning contracts, Mike Sofianos, Interim Assistant Director of Customer Services, stated that they were looking to reduce daily rate costs for the security contract by combining the Hackney Homes concierge contract with the Council's security contract. Bringing these services in-house was also an option that required further investigation. Ms Edila confirmed that discussions on future options were already underway in preparation for the contract's expiration in 2012. Councillor Sophie Linden requested a copy of an RP5 form¹ detailing recent activity related to recruitment, which Caroline Anderson, Assistant Director of Human Resources and Organisation Development, agreed to provide.

Gas and Electricity Supply Contract Renewal

The committee resolved to note the outcome of purchasing arrangements for gas and electricity supply contracts. The Half Hourly and Unmetered Electricity Supply contract has been awarded to Supplier A, with estimated contract values of £1,066,000 and £497,000 respectively. The Non-Half Hourly Electricity Supply contract has been awarded to Supplier B at an estimated value of £4,995,000. The Gas Supply contract has been awarded to Supplier C at an estimated value of £2,066,000. Chris Hudson introduced the report, noting that the Education budget was not included in the table at paragraph 9.4.4 as school budgets are separate.

Parking Enforcement

Seamus Adams, Head of Parking, Markets & Street Trading, outlined the report on parking enforcement and CCTV services. This is a joint procurement initiative with two contracts: parking enforcement, which is set to end in September 2011 but will be extended for a further three months, and CCTV, which is due to end in May 2012. Mr Adams explained that the current parking enforcement contract is flexible and that a reduction in Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)² over the past three to four years has resulted in a £300,000 saving, a flexibility that the new contract aims to maintain.

Councillor Linden questioned why the CCTV function was contracted out rather than provided in-house, to which Mr Adams responded that an options appraisal had not been conducted. Councillor Linden stated this needed to be reviewed. Councillor Samantha Lloyd, Chair of the committee, requested a meeting outside of the Cabinet Procurement Committee to discuss the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)³ further, as she found them to be vague.

The committee resolved to:

• Note the findings from benchmarking and market testing conducted so far.
• Approve an RP2⁴ for a two-lot procurement: (1) parking enforcement, encompassing the services listed at 9.2 to 9.3, and (2) CCTV (crime & disorder) services, with the opportunity for a provider to tender for both lots.
• Note the Council's intention to advertise the procurement in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU)⁵ and let using the restricted procedure, subject to further consideration of business case issues regarding CCTV work.
• Agree that contracts should initially be sought with terms of five years, with discretionary options to extend subsequently for up to five years.
• Agree an extension of the current parking enforcement contract for up to three months to December 2011, at a total cost of £740,000, to allow time for full contract mobilisation and staff consultation on any Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE)⁶ and restructuring considerations.
• Note that the current CCTV contract will be extended within existing terms and conditions for up to seven months until December 2011, to terminate at the same time as the current parking enforcement contract.
• Note that the Ambassadors Pilot has demonstrated that with minimal investment, Civil Enforcement Officers' (CEOs') roles can be expanded to act as the eyes and ears for other Council services, with minimal impact on current outputs and potential efficiencies for various Council service areas through intelligence gathering. There is also a potential to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs)⁷, though further examination is required.
• Note that the services involved in this procurement are expected to participate in the 'Uniform' project.
• Note that an opportunity for additional savings and efficiencies has been identified through collocating the contractor's entire pool of resources and the Council's contract management team.