Agenda item

DSI Billing Contract Renewal (Supply of Secure Print and Mail Service - Contract Award)

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation considered the report which sought approval to award a contract to DSI Billings Services Limited, up to a contract value of circa £1.6m to provide a secure print and mail service.  The contract would be awarded for an initial period of two years, with the option to extend for two further periods of 12 months.

 

It was advised that the procurement had been carried out via the CCS G-Cloud 12 framework, which ensured that the contract would provide value for money for the Council.

 

The report had been approved by Finance, Legal and Procurement services within the Council.

 

Officers advised that the Cabinet Member for Customer Service, Welfare and The Public Realm had been consulted and supported the recommendations.

 

Officers clarified that following advice from the Director of Finance, the figures in the recommendations should be preceded by the word ‘circa’.  This was because the actual contract value was dependent on volume and postage costs, so there could be some movement in the costs.  The printing price would remain the same.  The Cabinet Member was referred to paragraph 4.3 of the report.  The previous contract spend was around £400k, however there was the option to review the contract at the end of the first two year period to ensure it was still providing value for money.

 

RESOLVED that the Cabinet Member

 

1.      Approve the award of a contract for secure printing and postal services for Revenues, Benefits and Housing related statutory services to DSI Billing Services Limited as permitted under Contract Standing Order 9.07.1 (d) for a period of 2 years in the sum of  circa £400,000per annum with an option to extend for a further 2 periods of up to 12 months each for the sum of circa £400,000 per annum, up to a total contract value of circa £1.6 million.

 

2.      Note that the contract will commence 31st January 2022 and expire 30th January 2026 if all options to extend are taken. 

 

Reasons for decision

 

The Current contract expires on 30th January 2022.

 

DSI Billing Services Limited specialises in the high-volume hybrid mail solutions for Revenues and Benefits and related services, providing secure printing and postal services for Council Tax, Business Rates and Housing Benefit overpayment bills and recovery notices. They also undertake printing for Homes for Haringey.

 

The award of this contract will result in a fixed unit cost for production which will spare the authority index-linked price increases and maintains economies of scale even where volumes of outbound correspondence continue to fall. The only variable element of unit cost is the postage which is determined by Royal Mail. The unit cost of the service under the new contract does not vary from the current unit cost.

 

The procurement aligns with the wider digital strategy and other services can benefit from this service should they choose to do so during the contract period.

 

Alternative options considered

 

Full tender exercise – this was discounted as procurement through a framework allowed the Council to take advantage of accumulated pricing based on the framework.

 

Do nothing – this was not possible as the existing contract expires, and the council has a statutory requirement to issue notices for Revenues and Benefits under Local Government Finance Act 1992

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