The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Street Scene on the tendering exercise to be for the provision of arboricultural works on the highway and within Sefton’s parks and open spaces, and the proposed tender evaluation process for the award of the contract. During the consideration of the report, Members of the Cabinet queried whether the inflation index referred to in the report should be used in the new contract and officers undertook to examine this matter in more detail prior to the invitation of tenders.
Decision Made:
That:
(1) the basis of evaluation of the tenders as set out in the report be approved;
(2) the appropriate officers be requested to review and determine whether annual inflation indexes should be included in any new Council contracts;
(3) subject to resolution (2) above, the Director of Street Scene be granted delegated powers to award the contract to the lowest priced tender that meets all pre-determined quality evaluation criteria; and
(4) in the event that the procurement process cannot be completed before the existing contract ends on 28February 2014, the Contract Procedure Rules be waived and the existing contract be extended by up to 3 months.
Reasons for the Recommendation:
The existing contract is due to expire on 28 February 2014. If the existing contract was not replaced, it would result in arboricultural work having to be undertaken in an adhoc way, outside of a framework contract, which would result in increased costs.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
None - Not to replace the existing contract would result in arboricultural work having to be undertaken in an adhoc way, outside of a framework contract, which would result in increased costs; and not to commission any arboricultural works would have serious Health and Safety implications.