Agenda and draft minutes

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The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were none

There were no declarations of interest. 

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business. (Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under agenda item 9).

There was no urgent business.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were none.

The report sought to have the current EA21 call-off contract with XMA Ltd for the supply of laptops and accessories extended by 12 months and a key decision to approve an increase in spend under the contract above £500,000.00.

The Cabinet Member was assured that value for money within the contract was checked at regular intervals.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1. To approve an increase in the maximum value under the initial 2- year term of the Council’s EA21 contract with XMA Ltd for laptops and accessories (the EA21 contract), which was called off from CCS Framework RM6068, from £500,000.00 to £572,600.00 to cover an existing overspend to date as well as to cover anticipated spend up to the expiry of the initial term in December 2023;

2. To approve pursuant to Contract Standing Order (CSO) 10.02.1b), a first extension to the EA21 contract for a period of 12 months from 10December 2023 to 9 December 2024 at a maximum value of £475,440.00 for the first extension period.

3. To note that if the Council’s future digital roadmap aligns to new laptop devices, Digital Services may approach Cabinet in 2024 to seek further approval to extend the EA21 contract for a final 12-month term until 9 December 2025 and that a maximum value of £475,440.00 was currently envisaged for that extension period.

Reasons for decision

Laptops were an essential tool used by Haringey staff and integral to the successful service delivery and support of operations within the Council. Laptops align to the Council’s smart working principles and enable remote working, flexible hours, collaboration and a mobile workforce. Laptops could also reduce operational costs by saving office space, energy and maintenance.

Digital Services hold stock of laptops to allocate to end users and require a compliant procurement route to purchase sufficient devices to meet demand. The proposed call-off contract extension would permit procurements to be completed in an efficient, controlled manner, with fixed pricing for accurate budgeting monitoring.

The EA21 contract was called off in 2021 from Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Framework RM6068 following a further competition in the form of an aggregated e-auction. This further competition was permitted under the CCS framework call off rules and is considered the most cost-effective way of sourcing laptops and accessories. Twenty-nine public sector organisations took part and the savings achieved through combining demand is judged to offer a greater economy of scale, compared to the Council undertaking an independent procurement.

Under the proposed extension of the EA21contract, there would be no minimum spend commitment and the Council would be free to explore other procurement routes if it was thought the EA21 contract no longer demonstrated value for money or did not deliver products required by the Council.

The Council had procured through the EA21 contract since December 2021 and its predecessor EA16 was used to complete the laptop refresh in 2018/19. Continued use of the EA21 contract would ensure the laptops procured were consistent with models supported by Digital Services and are compatible with existing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The report requested approval for the variation of the current contract to provide Haringey Council with the flexibility to extend the implementation of SD-WAN solutions to additional or new sites within the Haringey area. The original contract was initially established for 31 corporate links connecting to the core Council offices.

The Council recognised the importance of modernising its network infrastructure to ensure efficient communication and data transfer across all council sites. The implementation of SD-WAN had proven to be a significant step forward in achieving this goal, providing improved network performance, scalability and cost-efficiency.

The proposed variation aimed to empower the Council with a mechanism to seamlessly bring other smaller or new sites into the SD-WAN environment. This flexibility was crucial to adapt to the changing needs and growth of the Council’s network infrastructure.

The Cabinet Member asked whether this was going to make the Council more efficient moving forward and was assured that this would update the Council’s services and ensure that the service was financially viable.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

To approve the variation of the current contract value of £499,000 by up to a value of 50% equal to a maximum of £249,500 and the alignment to the original contract end date of three years from the Installation Date for each connection as allowed under CSO 10.02.1 b Subject to the provisions of CSO 3.01 and the Regulations (in particular Regulation 72 of the Public Contract Regulations or Regulation 43 of the Concession Contracts Regulations (as applicable), compliance with Financial Regulations and subject to satisfactory outcomes of contract monitoring; the following may authorise an extension or variation to a contract (b) the Cabinet where the value is £500,000 (five hundred thousand pounds) or more.

Reasons for decision

To enable the continued adoption of flexible working, so that officers could work in and for the Borough.

• Adopting SD-WAN facilitates flexible working by providing reliable and secure connectivity for officers regardless of their location, enhancing productivity and enabling remote work arrangements.

To fully align with the government’s “Internet First” policy, the next generation corporate network was based on SD-WAN, which provided direct internet access at Council offices, libraries, youth, community centres, and across the Borough.

• Aligning with the government's "Internet First" policy ensures that the Borough's network infrastructure is modern and capable of providing direct internet access, promoting efficiency and digital accessibility.

The technology also allowed the Borough to take advantage of the reduced cost and delivery lead time of locally sourced internet connectivity compared to dedicated circuits (MPLS).

• SD-WAN offers cost-effective and faster internet connectivity compared to traditional MPLS circuits, which is beneficial for the Borough in terms of both budgetary considerations and speed of implementation.

Simplified and streamline delivery of future connectivity, giving the Borough flexibility and swift response to implement new initiatives to connect the Council with its residents.

• SD-WAN simplifies the process of implementing and managing network connectivity, providing the Borough with the flexibility to adapt to future initiatives quickly and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Data Protection policy had been updated to ensure compliance with the new legislative requirements.

The safety and integrity of personal data is a matter of great importance to the public. The Data Protection policy sets out our statement of intent in ensuring we work to the high standards our residents and customers would expect.

The Cabinet Member was assured that the policy covered our data protection requirements.

The report policy had been reviewed by Information Security Management in terms of interested parties and the Information Security Management System in order for the policy to be put forward for approval.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

To approve the Data Protection policy.

Reasons for decision

To ensure that this key policy is up-to-date and reflects the legislation.

Alternative options considered

N/a

There were no new items of urgent business.