Purpose

The re-procurement of the
contracts for coroner’s body removals.
 

Content

The Cabinet Member for Finance is
recommended to:
 
Agree the procurement strategy
set out in this report which will lead to the award of two
contracts (lot 1 covering Bexley and Bromley; lot 2 covering
Croydon and Sutton) for the provision of services in relation to
coroner’s body removals with an estimated 5-year contract
value of £1.5m across the four borough (of which
£498,000 is for Croydon).
 

Reasons for the decision

Having assessed all the
options, the proposed re-procurement route represents best value
for money.
 
Provides a
procurement process to engage with specialist service providers
with expertise in these areas of work.
 
This procurement
will benefit local suppliers and economy.
 
Meets the Mayors
Business plan to engage local suppliers and economy, to ensure
efficient, value for money services and deliver projects within
budget.
 

Alternative options considered

 
Do Nothing.  Croydon is statutorily obliged to ensure that the
Senior Coroner has all the resources necessary to fulfil her
statutory obligations. To do nothing is not an option as the
coronial death investigation service would collapse immediately
with the inevitable consequences for bereaved families, the Senior
Coroner would be unable to fulfil her statutory obligations, and
this would result in untold reputational damage for the
council.
 
Use existing
frameworks.  There are no frameworks
available, and this is because the services are provided by
suppliers who are locally based due to the requirement to collect
deceased within 90 minutes of being instructed to do so by the
Coroner’s representative.