Content

RESOLVED:
 

Approve the strategy for procuring a CPAM Consultancy Services
Framework required to support the delivery of the Council’s
CPAM Capital programme in a suite of 3 lots containing 4
consultants in each lot.

Note that the proposed length of the framework is 4 years
with an 
overall value of £10.5m.

Note that mini-competitions and direct call off procedures under
the Framework Agreements will be utilised on 100% cost with the
option to add the quality element at the discretion of
CPAM.

 
Reasons For Decision
 

The Council has a
Capital and Revenue programme of works requiring significant
investment to support key Council priorities across a wide variety
of its property assets which is managed under its various
Directorates. The Council needs to therefore procure various
professional Consultants to provide extensive technical expertise
and support in its delivery of the Capital Programme of works.

 

The professional
services required to support such capital projects include
architecture and design, employer’s agent, cost control,
various types of surveying, structural engineering, mechanical and
electrical engineering, quantity surveying, and party wall
surveyors. The multi-disciplinary consultants provide a range of
professional and technical services required by the Council to
effectively support the delivery of its capital programme. These
services are not available in-house presently and
historically.

 

The Council
therefore proposes to set up a CPAM framework agreement with
pre-vetted, high quality technical professional consultants
offering competitive rates to assist it in delivering capital
projects over the next four years. This Framework for Professional
Multi-Discipline and Technical Consultancy Services will be
designed with the intention of delivering savings to the
Council.

 

This report seeks
approval for the procurement strategy in respect of technical
consultant services to support the Council’s capital
programme. 

 

The aim is to establish a
4 year Consultants Framework, which will consist of local small and
medium-sized enterprises (SME) types of professionals/organisations
that can be regularly used by LBH CPAM. Although there are many
Nationwide Consultancy Frameworks, they very rarely have small
local suppliers on their lists. Officer’s experience in using
such frameworks has shown that larger organisations do not always
fit the profile for services to be carried out quickly.

 

The formation of a
professional consultancy framework offers the Council a rapid,
easily accessible, highly cost effective route to appointing vetted
professional service providers. It will help the Council to achieve
better quality of the service and save money. This report also
takes a strategic overview of all professional services
requirements, and assesses the short and long term opportunities to
increase the portion of work done by SMEs.

 

The spend on consultancy
services to assist the Council in delivering the capital works
programme over the next four years is estimated to be in the region
of £10.5m. This will be mainly for CIPFA condition related
high priority remedial and compliance related works including
standalone projects.

 

Estimated value -
The total value of Works for Contractors services to support the
capital programme projects over the next 4 years (2024-28) is
estimated to be £80m of which approximately up to
£10.5m is estimated to be spent on Consultants fees for
professional services to support the Council’s capital
investment programme for the duration of this strategy. The
professional fees are currently based on 13% of the indicative
value of Works value of £80m.

 

The fees for
consultant services to support the delivery of capital projects are
funded through the Council’s approved capital programme
budget. Consultant fees are sometimes paid from Revenue budgets and
are capitalised to be included as part of the overall projects'
costs on a project.

 
 
Alternative Options
(Considered and Rejected) 
 

Option 1: Insource all or
part of the professional services required

Resources required for specialised
skills and expertise such as QS/Cost Control Consultants,
Structural Engineers, Architects, Employers Agents are not
available in-house nor generally employed directly by the Council
as these services are required on an adhoc basis on Capital projects depending
on the nature of the works being carried out. These
expertise are required to compile technical
specifications and support the large programme of Capital
works.
 
The lack of staff and operational
accommodation associated with insourcing all the professional
consultancies activities included in the CPAM contracts does not
make this option viable and was therefore rejected.
 

Option 2 – utilising
existing consultant services frameworks

This is not the preferred route in
order to meet the requirements. Our projects often require
specialist expertise and have very narrow timeframes and we need
the consultants whose values and a way of working are aligned with
council’s. At present this model is not effectively working
to the needs and nature of the works being delivered. 
Currently too much Officer time is being spent on seeking
quotations from various professional consultancies. We would like
to offer more support to the local businesses and by procuring our
own framework we can extend our pool of suppliers by inviting small
and medium local companies that are not on the existing frameworks
to participate.
 

Option 3 - to
procure consultancy services via conventional tender routes

These routes are time consuming and
require more resources from the department. The nature of the
department’s work is often urgent and requires using the most
efficient way to procure the services. The use of one off
procurement exercises would lead to a wide variety of consultants
making contract management more complex.  It would also give
rise to a wide variety of prices for similar work, due to different
tendering times.  This offers poor cost certainty and may
cause challenges from leaseholder groups.  One-off procurement
exercises will only be used for unusual items of specialist work
which fall outside of the longer term contractual arrangements.