Issue - meetings

[Report of the Chief Operating Officer. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources.]To seek approval to award a new contract for the supply of Permanent and Temporary Agency Workers.  The award is made under the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) EU procurement compliant framework called MSTAR2 - Managed Service for Temporary and Agency Resources.

In the absence of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Resources, the Leader introduced the report which proposed awarding a new contract for the supply of Permanent and Temporary Agency Workers to Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited (‘Hays’) for a period of 3 years from 1 February 2017 with the option to extend the contract for a further period of one year.

The award was proposed under the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) EU Procurement Compliant Framework ‘MSTAR2 - Managed Service for Temporary and Agency Resources’.

In response to a question from Councillor Morris, temporary staff would not be replacing permanent staff as part of the budget proposals.

RESOLVED

1.    To approve the award of a Master Vendor contract under the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) EU Procurement Compliant Framework ‘MSTAR2 - Managed Service for Temporary and Agency Resources’ to Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited (‘Hays’) for a three year period with effect from 1 February 2017 with an option to extend for a further period of one year, for the supply of temporary agency workers and to administer the recruitment of all permanent Council staff at Tier 4 and below (below Head of Service level), and optionally to administer recruitment above Tier 4.

2.    The total value for the management fees payable for the temporary and permanent staff resource centre is on average £860k per annum and a total of £3.49m over the period of the contract (including the option to extend for one year).

Reasons for Decision

Hays have successfully supplied temporary agency workers to the Council since 2006 when they were awarded a seven year contract and in 2013, were again appointed as the preferred supplier following a mini tender competition using the ‘MSTAR1’ framework.

The Council awarded Hays the contract in 2013 primarily due to value, where on average, Hays were 10% more cost effective than other bidders. Hays have continued to offer competitive rates which is demonstrated as they were the highest scoring bidder in ‘Quality’ and ‘Price’ in the MSTAR2 framework.

The MSTAR framework was established following an EU procurement process and is supported by the Government Procurement Service (GPS) and Local Government Association (LGA). It is recommended to directly award with a Master Vendor model of delivery as this provides the optimum value for money that includes a mixture of large organisations and SMEs to deliver the resources the Council requires.

Over 30 local authorities were involved in developing the scope, specification and evaluation of the MSTAR2 framework to meet a broad range of user requirements. As the framework will be managed by ESPO at a national level, this will help drive performance on an ongoing basis and build strategic relationships with suppliers to gain better value for money, cashable savings and improve performance. Furthermore, having access to a national framework will enable the Council to share commercial knowledge, including supplier and market intelligence and expert advice.

Significant cost savings and efficiency gains have been made through the on-going relationship between the Council and Hays, including  ...  view the full minutes text for item 143