Purpose

A number of Ipswich
Borough Council's operational teams are relocating to the
Council’s new carbon neutral depot in December 2024.
 
It has been
recommended that the Council sources a material handling stacker
truck to be used with the new warehouse pallet racking as this will
provide the safest and most efficient method of mechanical
handling. The Council’s existing mechanical handling
equipment which is hired, is unsuitable
for the new warehouse layout due to height and width
limitations.
 
It has been
established that the lead-in time for this type of specialised
equipment is between 12 and 36 weeks depending on the specific
truck specified and that the costs to the Council would be less
than its existing mechanical handling equipment which is hired.

Decision

Due to the lengthy
lead-in time for the delivery of a suitable material handling
stacker truck, following consultation involving the Council’s
Legal, Finance and Procurement teams and a recommendation from the
Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Director –
Operations and Place made the decision to waive requirements within
the Contract Standing Orders to conduct a competitive purchasing
process for this requirement in accordance with the Council’s
Constitution, Part 4, Section 7, Contract Standing Orders, para
3.10 and Part 3, Section 5, Officer Delegation Scheme, para 9.1.
The reason for this being that a delay in awarding a contract would
be likely to lead to financial loss and it is economically in the
best interests of the Council to proceed with an award without
further delay, due to the timescales for relocating to the new
depot and the need to safely and efficiently
use the warehouse racking.
 
Following the
decision to waive requirements within the Contract Standing Orders
to conduct a competitive purchasing process the Assistant Director
– Housing has made the decision to award a contract to
Storage Aspects Ltd for the supply of an electric powered stacker,
suitable to lift 1000kg to a top beam level of 5.3m and designed
aisle width. The contract is for a 60 month lease at a cost of
£5,160 per annum. There will be a requirement for operator
training costs and repairs/ consumable spares over the contract
period. Therefore, the total contract value will be
£32,500.
 
The costs will me
met from existing core service budgets and provide a cost saving to
the current costs for mechanical handling equipment.