Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Reith.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business. Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with at item x below. New items of exempt business will be dealt with at item x below.

There were no items of urgent business.

A member with a personal interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest at the commencement of that consideration, or when the interest becomes apparent.

A member with a personal interest in a matter also has a prejudicial interest in that matter if the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the member's judgment of the public interest and if this interest affects their financial position or the financial position of a person or body as described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct and/or if it relates to the determining of any approval, consent, licence, permission or registration in relation to them or any person or body described in paragraph 8 of the Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting of the Procurement Committee held on 28 July 2011.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28 July 2011 be approved and signed.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Standing Orders.

The Committee considered a report seeking approval for award of contract to the Brandon Centre to deliver a joint Multi-Systemic Therapy service for the Council and LB Waltham Forest. Both authorities had been awarded grant funding from the Department of Education to deliver this intensive evidence based intervention service to vulnerable children and young people with a view to preventing them entering care or custody. The bid had been developed in partnership with the Brandon Centre, selected due to its expertise in delivering this specialist service and the positive service outcomes achieved delivering the service in other boroughs.

Approval was being sought for award of a two year contract from April 2012 until March 2014, with an option to extend for a further two years subject to the availability of funding. An additional resource demand of £244,700 would need to be met collectively by both authorities to supplement the grant funding. It was anticipated that this would be apportioned in line with the relative number of referrals from each authority and would be met from cost savings to placement budgets.

Further assurances were sought by the Committee that the proposed contract was in the best interests of the Council in consideration that a competitive tender process had not been followed and that a market testing process could not be undertaken to evaluate value for money. It was confirmed that a European tendering exercise had not been required for the procurement under Public Contracts Regulations 2006 owing to its classification as a Part B service. The Brandon Centre had been instrumental in the development of the bid on a partnership basis and should the Centre not be awarded the contract, there would be a significant risk of the grant funding being withdrawn. In addition, the Centre was considered to be a suitable partner due to its classification as a Centre of Excellence recognised by the Department of Health as well as being well placed locally and experienced in delivering this specialist service for other local authorities in the area. The Committee requested confirmation on the Council’s recourse to withdraw funds should performance outcomes not be delivered by the Centre. Officers agreed to seek verification on the break clauses under the proposed contract and forward to the Chair. 

RESOLVED

·      That approval be granted to the waiver of Contract Standing Orders (CSO) 9.01 (requirement to tender) as allowed under CSO 10.01(a) in accordance with waiver requirements noted under CSO 10.01.2(d) namely that it is in the Council’s overall interest.

·      That approval be granted in principle to the award of contract to the Brandon Centre to deliver Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST) for a period of two years commencing from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2014 with an option to extend for a further period of up to two years subject to availability of funding. This approval was subject to clarification being provided to the Chair regarding break clauses in the contract relating to the achievement of performance targets by the Centre as the delivery  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

To consider any items admitted at item 2 above.

There were no new items of urgent business.