Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence

Reasons for the Decisions:

Sefton Council needs to procure substantial quantities of liquid fuels (automotive and heating oils) in order to operate its daily business and the level of expenditure (approximately £950k per annum) requires Cabinet approval. It is considered that the Council can best be assured of value for money in terms of price and security of supply by procurement through the YPO Framework.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

The Council could decide not to procure Liquid Fuels through the YPO Liquid Fuels Framework and instead either procure through an alternative Framework or undertake its own procurement process. Officers have run mini-competitions through two major OJEU compliant Frameworks and, for the reasons set out in this report, judge that the YPO Framework provides the best value for money. A Sefton specific procurement process would need to be an EU compliant procurement process and would take approximately 6 months to complete. The main risk and the reason this option has not been recommended is it is considered that the separate procurement of lower volumes of fuel (i.e. Sefton procuring fuel alone) is likely to result in a higher price, potentially greater fluctuation in price and potentially less reliable supply. If Council was to decide to undertake its own procurement process, it isstill recommended that procurement continues through the YPO Framework whilst that procurement is undertaken, for the reasons stated above.