Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence that sought approval to award a contract for the supply of Agency Workers, from 1February 2018, for an initial period of 3 years with the option to extend for a further period of 1 year.

Decision Made: That:

(1)            the Council’s continued participation in the collaborative supply arrangement with other Liverpool City Region authorities be approved, to ensure purchasing power on a common category of spend within the region is maximised;

(2)            approval be granted to procure agency workers through the new Agency Worker Framework via Matrix SCM, as negotiated by Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO); and

(3)      the requirement for all service areas to utilise the new Framework, under a call off with Matrix SCM, for the supply of Agency Workers, in order to provide visibility of spend and scope for continuous improvement and value for money efficiency gains, be reinforced.

Reasons for the Decision:

There is an ongoing need to employ Agency Workers in some service areas, to ensure sufficient capacity is available for those services to be provided safely and effectively.

In December 2016 the Cabinet agreed to utilise the one year extension option within the existing contract for the provision of Agency Workers, in order to facilitate collaborative work by Liverpool City Region (LCR) authorities, including pre-procurement analysis and options appraisal, ahead of an anticipated joint procurement of a new service to replace the current Framework Agreement at the end of its full contract term (31January 2018).

The options have now been appraised, including existing Framework Agreements and a separate full OJEU collaborative procurement process, with the recommended option being identified as the one that provides the most economically advantageous.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

The options appraisal is presented in paragraphs 1.3 to 1.6 of the report.