DELEGATED POWERS REPORT NO. All reports 1. Governance Service receive draft report Name of GSO Paul Frost

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1 DELEGATED POWERS REPORT NO SUBJECT: The procurement of Children Services Home to School and Adhoc passenger transport (large coach) All of the following actions MUST be completed at each stage of the process and the signed and dated report MUST be passed to the Governance Service for publishing All reports 1. Governance Service receive draft report Name of GSO Paul Frost 2. Governance Service cleared draft report as being constitutionally appropriate 3. Finance clearance obtained (report author to complete) Name of GSO Paul Frost Name of Fin. officer John Hooton Date 06/09/12 4. Staff and other resources issues clearance obtained (report author to complete) Name of Res. officer Date N/A 5. Strategic Procurement (report author to complete) 6. Legal clearance obtained from (report author to complete) 7. Policy & Partnerships clearance obtained (report author to complete) 8. Equalities & Diversity clearance obtained (report author to complete) 9. The above process has been checked and verified by Director, Head of Service or Deputy 10. Signed & dated report, scanned or hard copy received by Governance Service for publishing 11. Report published by Governance Service to website Name of SPO Lesley Meeks Name of Legal officer Steven Strange Name of P&P officer Andrew Nathan Date 20/08/12 Name of officer Andrew Nathan Name 17/09/12 Date Name of GSO Pam Wharfe Paul Frost Date 18/09/12 Name of GSO Paul Frost Date 18/09/ Head of Service informed report is published Name of GSO Paul Frost Date 18/09/12 Key decisions only: 13. Expiry of call-in period Date Not applicable 14. Report circulated for call-in purposes to Business Management OSC members & copied to Cabinet Members & Head of Service Name of GSO Date Not applicable

2 ACTION TAKEN UNDER DELEGATED POWERS BY OFFICER (EXECUTIVE FUNCTION) Subject The procurement of Children Services Home to School and Adhoc passenger transport (large coach) Officer taking decision Interim Director of Environment, Planning and Regeneration Date of decision 17 September 2012 Date decision comes into effect Summary 17 September 2012 This report seeks authorisation for the procurement of Children Services Home to School and Adhoc passenger transport (large coach) through a competitive quotation process, as required by the Council s Contract Procedure Rules. Officer Contributors Bernard McGreevy Environmental Services Manager Transport Status (public or exempt) Wards affected Enclosures Reason for exemption from callin (if appropriate) Key Decision Public All None Not applicable No Contact for further information: Bernard McGreevy Environmental Services Manager - Transport, Environment Planning and Regeneration, Serial No. 1810

3 1. RELEVANT PREVIOUS DECISIONS 1.1 Cabinet, 29 November 2010 (Decision item 9) resolved (i) that the Commercial Director be authorised to commence the procurement process to identify a strategic partner for the delivery of a new passenger transport service, and (ii) that a six month extension of the current SEN transport framework agreement be approved to allow adequate time to procure the most suitable provider for a new service. Cabinet Resources Committee (Decision Item 9), 16 January resolved to extend the SEN Framework Contract expiring on 29 February 2012 for a second term to allow adequate time for the West London Alliance (WLA) to procure a region-wide collaborative framework contract for the participating boroughs (Barnet, Brent, Ealing and Hounslow). 2. CORPORATE PRIORITIES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 The continuity of procurement of Home to School passenger transport will help to ensure the council s corporate plan priority of Better services with less money by helping to ensure that efficient cost effective services are delivered by Environment, Planning and Regeneration, in compliance with the Council s Contract Procedure Rules. 2.2 The Council has already recognised the value of Passenger Transport Services being delivered on behalf of Children Service, Adults Social Care & Health and other services through the establishment of a centralised Passenger Transport Service and the outsourcing of this function as a shared service to the West London Alliance, to identify ways of making services more efficient and improving the service from a customer s point of view. 3. RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES 3.1 I do not consider the issues involved are likely to raise significant levels of public concern or give rise to policy considerations. There is a risk that the business continuity of the Passenger Transport Service will breach Council s Contract Procedure Rules, if a decision to grant authority to attain a supplier to provide coached passenger transport services on behalf of Children Service Home to School passenger transport service and other services is not given or is delayed.

4 4. EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES 4.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the council and all other organisations exercising public functions on its behalf must have due regard to the need to: a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act; b) advance equality of opportunity between those with a protected characteristic and those without; and c) promote good relations between those with a protected characteristic and those without. The protected characteristics referred to are: age; disability; gender reassignment; pregnancy and maternity; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation; race. It also covers marriage and civil partnership with regard to eliminating discrimination. 4.2 As part of the quotation process potential service providers will be reviewed to ensure satisfactory compliance with the Equalities Act USE OF RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS (Finance, Procurement, Performance & Value for Money, Staffing, IT, Property, Sustainability 5.1 The Passenger Transport Service has procured passenger transport services through the Procurement of Hired Vehicles and Drivers Contract - Contract No. 9501, since 1st September 2004 until 31 August 2011, at an annual spend of 3.5m. 5.2 The provider for coach Home to School passenger transport (H&B Group Travel Ltd) ceased trading on the 23 July The Passenger Transport Service had to maintain a suitable Home to School transport provider for the intervening period until a new tender exercise for all transport services could be completed. The anticipated spend for an interim provider was originally expected to be under 25,000 hence an alternative provider was selected under reasonable means of selection. Due to the extension of the passenger transport contract, this level of expenditure has been exceeded and it is now necessary to seek competitive quotes for the remaining period of the service which ends on 31 st December It is necessary to seek a minimum of three competitive quotes to in order to comply with the Council s Contract Procedure Rules. The anticipated additional expenditure for the period until 31 st December 2012 is approximately 20, It will be necessary for Passenger Transport Services to undertake a competitive quotation process to identify a competitive provider of

5 Children Services Home to School passenger transport by large coach, with notification of award by 4 th September LEGAL ISSUES 6.1 None 7. CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS 7.1 Council Constitution, Part 3, Responsibility for Functions Section 6.1 provides that Chief Officers (i.e. the Chief Executive, Directors and Heads of Service as listed in Article 12) can take decisions without consultation with the Cabinet Member concerned where it is a decision authorised to be taken by the Chief Officer under the Contract Procedure Rules or it is in respect of operational matters within the Chief Officer's sphere of managerial or professional responsibility and is not significant in terms of budget or policy. 7.2 Council Constitution, Part 3, Responsibility for Functions Section 6.2 provides that Chief Officers may use whatever means they consider appropriate to discharge those functions allocated to them including placing contracts and procuring other resources within or outside the Council. 7.3 The Councils Constitution, table 6.1, Barnet Tendering and quotation thresholds for works, supplies and services requests for three(3) or more written competitive quotations but must have minimum 2 returned. Less than 2 bids returned to then repeat the competition process. As the contract value is projected to be below, 75,000 the Director/Head of Service may Authorise the contract and may Accept the tender/quotation where it is the lowest or where it represents value for money and is the best available option for the Council. This is in accordance with table 5.1 of the Contract Procedure Rules. 8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 8.1 H&B Group Travel Ltd, the sole approved supplier who had the capacity to provide large coaches suitable for the procurement of Children Services Home to School passenger transport under the Procurement of Hired Vehicles and Drivers Contract - Contract No. 9501, ceased trading on 23 July The Passenger Transport Services procured through competitive quotes a suitable supplier in accordance with Contract Procurement Rules for the interim, from 1 st September 2011 to 31 st July 2012.

6 8.3 At its meeting on 16 January 2012 Cabinet Resources Committee approved the extension of the SEN Framework Contract that expired on 29 February 2012 for a second term to allow adequate time for the West London Alliance (WLA) to procure a region-wide collaborative framework contract until 31 st December To ensure continuity of the Non SEN Home to School transport service until 31 st December 2012 in compliance with Contract Procurement Rules for contracts over 25,000. It will be necessary for the Passenger Transport Service to attain a suitable provider through competitive procurement quotes, with notification of award by 4 th September LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS 9.1 None 10. OFFICER S DECISION I authorise the following action 10.1 Authorise the procurement of Children Services Home to School and Adhoc passenger transport (large coach) through competitive quotation process, as required by the Council s Contract Procedure Rules. Signed Pam Wharfe Interim Director of Environment, Planning and Regeneration Date 17/09/12