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RESOLVED:
 
1. 
To approve the award of contracts to the recommended
skilled and experienced contractors to deliver lift servicing and
repairs to residential lifts across the Hackney housing stock. Note
the award of two contracts in regions, East and West.
 
2. 
Note the award of two contracts in regions, East and
West:
 
Lot 1: Lift
Maintenance Contract for Servicing and Repairs - East Area. The
contract term is a five-year contract with an option to extend for
up to a further 5 years (5 years +1+1+1+1+1). The total maximum
value for up to £27.9m in total across the potential
10 year period. This contract will be
awarded to Supplier A.
 
Lot 2: Lift
Maintenance Contract for Servicing and Repairs - West Area. This is
a five-year contract with an option to extend for up to a further 5
years (5 years +1+1+1+1+1). The total maximum value for up to
£27.9m in total across the potential 10
year period. This contract will be awarded to Supplier
B.
 
3. 
Note; an annual report on the performance of these
contracts, as well as the tracking of the social value commitments
will be presented to the Hackney Procurement Board.
 
 
Reasons For Decision
 
1. 
The proposed lift repair and maintenance contracts are required to
ensure that Hackney Council meets its statutory requirements as a
landlord and ensures the safety of its residents. In addition, it
will ensure that lifts are out of service for the minimum time
possible. The contracts will enable Hackney to achieve its
objective to undertake reactive repairs and maintenance within its
significant lift portfolio thus minimising lift ‘out of
service’ times, the inconvenience to residents and ensuring
confidence in residents where lift assets are concerned. This
contract would avoid significant statutory and reputational impact
of not having a suitable lift contractor in place. The procurement
of a lift contract can be considered of high risk to the
Council.
2. 
The current interim contractual arrangement was put in place in
June  2021, and is currently
being delivered by Apex Lifts Limited. This contract was
established to allow PAM to cover the interim period while a new
Lifts Repairs framework was being procured. This interim
arrangement has been extended via a Single Tender Action on three
occasions. The latest STA will end on the 22nd of January 2025.
3. 
The proposed approach has two geographical areas, namely; East and
West. The rationale behind the split is that it enables greater
resilience for the Council and provides some insurance against
supplier failure. The contract will be drafted to enable one
contractor to take some of the work outside their allocated
geographical area if the other contractor is not performing.
4. 
Careful consideration has been given to the appropriate length of
the contract. In reaching the conclusion thought was given to
ensuring that Hackney could build a beneficial long term
relationship with the successful bidders and the opportunity to
ensure value for money as well as contain future procurement costs.
As a result, the contracts are for an initial term of 5 years with
an option to extend up to a further 5 years in annual
increments.
 
 
Alternatives
Considered and Rejected
 
Option 1 - Let multiple
10 year Term Contracts
 
Consideration was given to using
multi-supplier (more than two) longer term contracts for these
works as part of this procurement exercise. These contracts have
significant advantages, including delivery efficiency savings,
increased social value and greater certainty for supply chain
partners.
 
However, such contractual arrangements take a
significant amount of time from developing initial proposals to
contract mobilisation. In the absence of an existing arrangement,
it is imperative to implement a solution in a much shorter
time-frame. For this reason, it was concluded that this option is
not as viable as others identified, and, therefore, rejected.
 
 
Option 2 –  Letting one Term Contract
 
The option of letting a single term contract
was considered.  However, this was
quickly discounted because of the lack of an alternative contractor
should they not perform or should they cease to exist. In
addition the lack of recent capital
investment has meant that there is likely to be a higher than
average need for repair with the lifts stock. It was also believed
that the quantum of repairs required would be too much work for a
single contractor to undertake. It was concluded that this option
is not as good as others identified, and, therefore, rejected.
 
Option 3 - Insourcing the
entire contract
 
Technical resources with very specialist
qualifications would be required for the lift servicing and
maintenance.  There is very limited time
available to scale up to recruit such a team and it  is not clear this
would be possible.
The specialist nature of lift parts would also
require the council to put in place new supply chains sufficient to
cover the wide range of brands and types of lifts in the borough.
This is likely to be prohibitive and presents a very significant
risk to successful lift repairs programmes.
 
A further barrier is that it is not possible
to consult with leaseholders on the appointment of the
DLO.  This would mean that works subject
to a Section 20 notice (above £250/unit) would not be fully
rechargeable without additional procurement work, or a dispensation
from the First Tier Tribunal (which is unlikely to be
forthcoming).  This would be too
significant a financial loss to the council as would not allow to
recover costs incurred.
 
This option would also mean that the council
would take full responsibility for the health and safety of
operatives which is a very significant risk for the Council.
 
Option 4 - Appointment via an
External Framework
 
Due to the requirement for leasehold
engagement, the strategic nature, value of the contract and
specialist area, an external framework is not deemed to be a
suitable option for this requirement. 
For these reasons, it was concluded that this option is not as good
as others identified, and, therefore, rejected.