Special Meeting, Cabinet - Wednesday, 1st February, 2017 7.00 pm - Agenda and minutes

To consider resolving:

That, subject to the public interest test, the public be excluded from this meeting during the discussion of the undermentioned item to avoid the disclosure of exempt information within the paragraph of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 indicated against such item:

Item No.                     Schedule 12A          Category

            Para. No.

2                                  3                                  Information relating to financial or                                                                        business affairs

RESOLVED:            That, taking into account the public interest test, the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the under mentioned item to avoid the disclosure of exempt information within the paragraph of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 indicated against the item:

Minute           Schedule 12A          Category

No.                  Para. No.

85                   3                                  Information relating to financial or business                                                      affairs

To consider the Head of Community and Environmental Services’ Report No. COMM1704 (copy attached), which seeks approval to award the Council’s contract(s) in respect of waste and recycling collections, street cleansing, grounds maintenance and the cleaning of public toilets.

The Cabinet considered the Head of Community and Environmental Services’ Report No. COMM1704 and confidential appendix, which sought approval to award the Council’s contracts in respect of waste and recycling collections, street cleansing, grounds maintenance and the cleaning of public toilets.

Members were informed of the sensitive nature of the information contained in the confidential appendix and, subsequently, discussed at the meeting. It was stressed that the details of the contractors involved and any financial details could not be disclosed at that stage, to prevent jeopardising the legally prescribed procurement process.

The Cabinet was reminded that bidders had submitted expressions of interest in respect of three lots:

·                    Lot 1 – Waste collection and street cleansing

·                    Lot 2 – Grounds maintenance and toilet cleaning

·                    Lot 3 – Combination of Lots 1 & 2

Members were informed that some bidders had pulled out of the process prior to the Competitive Dialogue stage and another had pulled out afterwards. The bids for the first stage had been received in November, 2015 and had been assessed on quality and price, with separate evaluation teams considering each element independently. At that stage, the evaluation had been weighted 60:40 in favour of quality over price. This had had the effect of identifying and eliminating any poor quality bids at an early stage. At subsequent stages, the weighting had been equalised. This process had produced a short list of three bidders for each of the three lots, including some companies that had been shortlisted for more than one lot.

Stage 2 submissions had been received from the remaining bidders in March, 2016 and, overall, these had been of a better quality than the submissions received previously. Prices had been keen and had demonstrated potential savings for the Council. It was felt that this improvement in quality had been brought about, in part, by the use of the Competitive Dialogue process. At that stage, one further bidder on each lot had been eliminated, leaving two bidders in respect of each lot.

It was reported that a further two and a half weeks of Competitive Dialogue had been carried out with bidders in October, 2016 and final tenders had been received during December, 2016. These had been evaluated and moderated during January, 2017, using a scoring system set up to identify the arrangement that would be the most economically advantageous for the Council. The system had involved the independent scoring of each of the submitted Method Statements in terms of price and quality, followed by the ranking of the bids accordingly to the combined score. The confidential appendix set out the scores and the final ranking.

The Cabinet was informed that the Future Contracts Member Working Group had continued to meet regularly throughout the process. The Group had carried out scrutiny and had supported the process in many ways. Members of the Group had been directly involved at various stages, including carrying out visits to the premises of bidders and assisting with the evaluation of the final tenders. The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.