Content

RESOLVED:
 
1. 
To approve the Council’s use of the LBLA
Barristers Framework procured by Ealing Council and to enter into
the access agreement for that framework which commences on 1
January 2024 for 3 years with the option to extend for a further
year at an estimated annual value of £800,000 and an
estimated total value of £3.2m.
 
Reason(s) For
Decision
 
1. 
The London Boroughs Legal Alliance (LBLA) is a collaborative
partnership of legal teams made up of the City of London
Corporation, the London Boroughs of Barnet, Bexley, Brent, Bromley,
Camden, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith
& Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Havering, Hillingdon, Hounslow,
Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Islington, Lambeth, Newham,
Redbridge, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, City of
Westminster, the London Fire Commissioner, and Slough Council.
2. 
Buckinghamshire County Council, Swale Borough Council, Maidstone
Borough Council, South Oxfordshire District Council, Vale of the
White Horse District Council, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
are not LBLA members but have access to the current framework.
3. 
The LBLA is administered on behalf of the boroughs by Kennedy
Cater, a legal services procurement and management Consultancy
firm.
4. 
The LBLA established a framework in 2020 which ran until 31
December 2023 and provided the participating boroughs with access
to Barristers from chambers across a range of specialisms at fixed
prices or hourly rates.
5. 
Under the framework the Barristers' chambers are bound by their
rates tendered and are required to provide their services in
accordance with usual professional requirements.
6. 
The LBLA member authorities have found the rates tendered under the
previous framework to be competitive.
7. 
With the most recent agreement expiring on 31 December 2023 a
replacement framework was procured (to run from 1 January 2024 to
31 December 2026) to provide LBLA members with continued access to
a panel of expert legal advice for specialist advocacy, advice and
related legal services under the following areas of
law.  We are entitled to instruct any
supplier providing services under any lot.
 
a. 
Lot 1: Adult Social Services
b. 
Lot 2: Children Services
c. 
Lot 3: Governance and Public Law
d. 
Lot 4: Criminal litigation and Prosecution
e. 
Lot 5: Housing
f. 
Lot 6: Planning
g. 
Lot 7: Property
h. 
Lot 8: Civil Litigation. 
i. 
Lot 9: Employment
j. 
Lot 10: Education
k. 
Lot 11: Licensing
 
8. 
As the framework must be procured by a contracting authority, the
LBLA used one of the boroughs in the Alliance to act as lead
authority.
9. 
On 19th April 2023 Ealing Council Cabinet Committee published copy
here) authorised Ealing Council to act as the lead authority in
this regard and resolved the following:
 
 I. 
Authorised the Director of Legal and Democratic Services to invite
and evaluate tenders for a Barristers Framework for a period
of  three
years with the option to extend for one year, with Ealing as the
lead authority on behalf of LBLA authorities and other authorities
wishing to access the framework.
 
II.  Authorised the Director of Legal and
Democratic Services upon completion of the tender process to award
the Framework Agreement to Barristers Chambers in accordance with
the evaluation criteria, for each of the Lots.
 
III.  Authorised the Director of Legal
and Democratic Services to enter into Access Agreements with any
LBLA members and other authorities that request to use the
framework
 
10.The procurement exercise was a
one stage (open) procedure (under the Light Touch Regime).
11.That procurement exercise has
now concluded and the award has been agreed, enabling the London
Borough of Hackney to buy into this agreement.
12.By entering into this agreement,
the London Borough of Hackney will have access to a wide range of
barristers with the required expertise to choose from; certainty as
to the cost of instructing barristers as well as the means of
monitoring and controlling expenditure.
13.Call off from the LBLA barrister
framework can be by a direct award to any provider on the relevant
lot without reopening competition, where it is deemed that a
participating barrister represents the most economically
advantageous solution for such services, or can be instructed
following a mini-competition between providers on that lot who are
capable of providing the required services. The LBLA barrister
framework anticipates that for the majority of instructions direct
award will be used.
14.Kennedy Cater, an independent
public sector consultancy firm, will monitor the framework for the
boroughs and also conduct an annual review with the Chambers on the
framework.
 
Alternative Options
(Considered and Rejected)
 
The alternative options considered for this
procurement include:
· 
For the Council to procure its own framework separate to the
collaborative agreement.
· 
For the Council to procure Barristers advice and representation on
an ad hoc basis.
 
The above options were rejected, as
anecdotally, without the competitive buying power of the boroughs
in the LBLA available through the framework, the individual
Councils will not be able to attract the calibre of Chambers and
also obtain competitive prices as provided under a collaborative
agreement. The Council would also not have the benefit of the
expertise, management and monitoring of the framework carried out
by Kennedy Cater.