Decision Maker: Assistant Director for Shared Services
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
• The Assistant Director of Shared
Services approves to award the contract for the provision of the
Benefits Processing Service to Bloom Procurement Services Limited
(Bloom) for a period of 12 months as permitted under the
Council’s Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1(c).
• Bloom will subcontract to Meritec Ltd. for the provision of
the Benefits Processing Service required by the Council.
• Contract Period is 1st April 2018 – 31st March 2019
(with option to extend for up to 6 months).
• Contract Value is £243,657.88 for 12 months or
£365,486.82 if the option to extend for a further six months
is exercised.
• Meritec Ltd. achieved the highest
quality score during the tender evaluations and the Council has
confidence that the services provided would fully comply with the
requirements of the organisation in terms of value for money and
quality
• Meritec Ltd is used by a number of other Local authorities
to support their benefits service. The Council has taken verbal
references from two local authorities who have both confirmed that
the company delivers a good quality and accurate benefits
processing service.
o The existing contract for this service expires on 31 March 2018.
This contract will ensure continued support required for
administration of various benefit processing services and reducing
the backlog of work caused by the large number of staffing
vacancies within the service. The cost of the service provision
will be met within the existing benefits operational budget.
• The Benefits Service has previously
engaged additional temporary agency workers at peak periods to
clear the backlog of work through the Council’s Temporary
Agency Staff Provider, ‘Hays Specialist Recruitment
Ltd’. This approach has had mixed results, leading to
financial losses in Housing Benefit Subsidy and hence was not
exercised.
• The option to undertake a full EU tender had been
considered. However, it was deemed that the level of
Council’s resources required to compete an EU tender process
was not justified when suitable EU compliant Framework Agreements
were available
Publication date: 27/03/2018
Date of decision: 21/03/2018
Accompanying Documents: