Purpose

To seek approval from the Executive to go out to procurement for
the electoral services printing and mailing contract

Content

RESOLVED
 
KEY DECISION
 

That the Executive:

 

i)       
Approved the procurement of
specialist electoral print and mailing services for the period of
1st
April 2026 to
31st
March 2027 to the value of
£500,000.

 

ii)     
Authorised the Director of Law and
Governance in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance,
Efficiency and Change to procure and award the contract(s)
necessary for the implementation of election specialist print and
mailing services in-line with the procurement routes and maximum
budget outlined in this report.

 

 

Reasons for Recommendations -
Failure to identify a new print supplier and procure a new contract
would have an adverse impact on service provision and the ability
of the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer and North
Northamptonshire Council to deliver successful
elections/referenda.  It is imperative that the statutory duties of
the Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer as
appointed by North Northamptonshire Council are delivered to avoid
legal challenge and to maintain confidence in electoral process and
the delivery of elections. Printing materials for election and
electoral registration is a highly specialised service with a
limited pool of suppliers that can produce high volumes, meet tight
deadlines and adhere to changing legislative
requirements.

 

Alternative Options
considered:

 

•          
Do Nothing
– The Electoral
Registration Officer and Returning Officer has a statutory duty to
prepare and issue documents as defined in legislation for electoral
registration and election purposes.  On expiration of the current contract, the
production and despatch of election and electoral services
documentation would have to be undertaken by North Northamptonshire
Council’s in-house printing service.  The specialist nature, quantities and tight
lead times would make this impractical.  There would be limited opportunities to
optimise savings created by economies of scale that large print
companies can utilise by ordering and despatching in bulk. The
Council does not currently have the specialist printing equipment,
resource or capacity to effectively and efficiently deliver
production of electoral documents.  The associated risk of operational failure
could lead to potential legal challenge and significant
reputational damage caused by failure to deliver, potentially
jeopardising the integrity of any election/referenda result and
eroding confidence in the democratic process.

 

•          
Extend the
existing contract – The provisions within the existing
contract do not make provision for an extension beyond the end
date, 31st
March
2026. The extension periods
for the current contract have already been utilised during the
contract

 

•          
Procure new
supplier through an existing framework via Direct Award
- Using a compliant framework
agreement to make a Direct Award is a legally permissible route
that would enable a contract to be in place in the short term
(April 2026 to March 2027). This option would meet both the
requirements of procurement legislation and enable a supplier to be
in place from expiration of the existing
contract. 
It would also ensure continued
provision that meets the fluctuating and urgent demands of the
service. A provider would be selected from a list of compliant
suppliers that have already demonstrated their ability to
successfully deliver electoral printing and mailing services. Based
on preliminary enquiries the existing framework has limited
suppliers and is not considered the preferred approach due to
limited competition.

 

•          
Procure a
longer-term contract. This
option has the benefit of ensuring service stability over the
longer term from a specialist supplier but does not support future
proposals to align all electoral services contracts from 2027
onwards. 
A longer-term contract was
rejected on the basis that the contract would not align with
existing systems and other contract end dates for a coordinated
whole scale procurement of print, software and other digital
electoral services in 2026/2027.