Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Corporate Resources

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Corporate Resources seeking approval for the appointment of an electricity and gas supplier for contracts commencing 1April 2019, for four year contracts.

Decision Made:       That

(1)          approval be granted for the procurement of electricity supplies for all Council buildings, including schools and street lighting, to be delivered through a Central Purchasing Body (CPB), namely Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation (YPO);

(2)          approval be granted for the Council to join the YPO Electricity Supply Framework, with instruction to purchase electricity supplies on behalf of the Council for contracts commencing 1 April 2019 until 31 March 2023;

(3)          approval be granted for the continuation of the Council utilising Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Gas Supply Framework as the provider of gas contracts for the period 1April 2019 until 31 March 2023;

(4)          approval be granted for the continuation of the authority previously delegated to the Head of Corporate Resources and the Head of Commissioning Support and Business Intelligence to sign the Customer Access Agreements for both CCS and YPO supply frameworks;

(5)          approval be granted for the Head of Corporate Resources to report the results of the electricity and gas procurement exercise and his actions to a future meeting with the Cabinet Member – Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services; and

(6)          it be noted that planning for contract options for Council water supplies is underway.

Reasons for the Decision:

Approval is sought for the proposals of the procurement of electricity and gas for 2019/20 for 4 year contracts.

The use of existing public sector framework contracts and alternative procurement models have been thoroughly investigated within the context of achieving maximum future business value to the Council and the partners on its contracts.

To establish a new electricity contract with a new supplier in a timely manner to minimise risk in exposing the Council to default penalty rates beyond 31 March 2019, which are significantly higher in cost.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Allowing the contracts to expire and enter default rates would expose the Council to significant financial risk.

To continue with operating an in-house Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) procurement exercise for electricity and/or gas supply is considered onerous when the public sector frameworks offer demonstrable value for money in the current energy market. The officer time involved in such a lengthy procurement process is better directed towards actions to reduce consumption across the Council.