Pursuant to Minute 532 of the meeting of the Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee held on Thursday, 30th November 2017, the Cabinet considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (People) setting out the series of processes that need to be undertaken in order to meet the proposed procurement timetable.

Resolved:-

1.  That the key elements (set out in Appendices A and C to the submitted report) be approved for inclusion in the procurement documentation to set out the Council’s ambitions, parameters and expectations for its Passenger Transport Service and to enable the procurement process.

2.  That Competitive Dialogue be approved as the procurement approach to securing a preferred partner.

3.  That commencement of the competitive dialogue process, based on the timetable set out in paragraph 4.4 of the report, be approved.

4.  That the term “Partnership Approach” via a Corporate Structure be used in defining the approach to be developed by tenderers in response to the Council’s objectives and that this be used throughout the procurement documentation.

5.  That the proposed Passenger Transport objectives/requirements be approved as an appropriate and comprehensive set of underpinning statements to be included in procurement documentation and to form the basis for evaluation questions.

6.  That the Director of Strategy Commissioning and Procurement (in consultation with the Directors of Transformation, Learning, Adults Services, Finance and Resources) be authorised to take decisions during the procurement process, to ensure agile and timely decision making, keeping the procurement to timetable and protecting the Council’s position.

Reason for Decision

It is critical that the Council has an agreed, robust and transparent position on each of the matters presented in the report in order to shape the procurement documents and to ensure that the Council’s ambitions for its Passenger Transport Service is delivered through the partnership. On 7^th November 2017, Cabinet endorsed the recommendation that a JV approach is the best delivery model to achieve sustainable transport provision for the Council. This model offers transparency of costs, visibility of profits and the ability for the Council to have some control in the delivery of the service. This approach, assuming a partner with appropriate experience, existing infrastructure and resources can be found, reduces risk to the Council. 

Other Options

None

Note: This is an Executive Function.

Eligible for call in to Policy and Resources Scrutiny Committee

Executive Councillor: Moring