Purpose

With approval from the Monitoring Officer and Chair of the Children and Education Scrutiny Committee, the urgency procedures have been invoked to waive the 28-day Forward Plan, 5-day consideration and 3-day call in periods.

Approved the correction to Cabinet Report MAR24/CAB/89 that the company to be awarded the contract for delivery of the Council’s translation and interpretation service is Language Line Ltd, and not Language Line TI Ltd. The contract period remains as 4 years (including extension period up to 2 years) and shall commence on 8 May 2024.

Decision

the implementation did not go ahead due to the public framework (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation Framework 402_20 Language Services - Lot 1c Managed Service for Language Services - Local Government and Wider Public Sector) identifying the incorrect company name on the framework. Language Line TI Limited ceased to be a framework supplier under this framework.

Reasons for the decision

On 11 March 2024 Cabinet (report MAR24/CAB/89: Decision - Translation and Interpretation Services MAR24/CAB/89 | Peterborough City Council approved the following recommendations in relation to the Council’s Translation and Interpretation Services:

1.         Approval to direct award a contract to Language Line TI under the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) Framework 402_20 Language Services Lot 1c Managed Service for Language Services - Local Government and Wider Public Sector, to provide Interpretation and Translation Services to Peterborough City Council for a period of 4 years (including extension period up to 2 years) and a contract value of £258,000 per annum. The contract shall commence on 8 May 2024; and

2.         Delegated approval was also given to the Executive Director of Adults Social Care & Commissioning to extend the Contract Term up to 2 years (2 periods of 12 months) in accordance with the contract provision

Subsequently as part of final due diligence checks by the Procurement Team prior to preparation of the contract it was noted that the incorrect version of the pricing schedule had been provided by ESPO in relation to this matter.  The correct version did not detail Language Line TI Ltd as a framework provider.  Further investigation by the Procurement Team lead to it being confirmed that Language Line TI Ltd were no longer on the framework.  The removal of Language Line TI Ltd had not been communicated by ESPO.

Language Line TI Ltd is the current supplier of translation and interpretation services to the Council and a wholly owned subsidiary of Language Line Ltd.   Language Line Ltd is listed as a framework provider on the ESPO Framework 402_20 Language Services Lot 1c Managed Service for Language Services - Local Government and Wider Public Sector.  Therefore, it is Language Line Ltd to whom the Council shall award this contract, and not Language Line TI Ltd as set out in Cabinet Report MAR24/CAB/89.

Language Line Ltd have confirmed that award of contract will not impact on delivery and all PIN’s and Account Numbers will remain unchanged.

REASON FOR THE RECOMMENDATION

To correct supplier name from Language Line TI (company number 0512249) to Language Line Ltd (company number 04823110).

Alternative options considered

As detailed in Cabinet decision MAR24/CAB/89 Translation and Interpretation

Do Nothing

This option would result in the Council failing to deliver on its legislative requirements and duty of care under the Equality Act 2010 and would mean that the Council would not be meeting its statutory duties in ensuring fair treatment to all. To do nothing could result in uncontrolled spending on Interpretation and Translation services due to having no formal contract in place. There would be an increased risk of overspending due to having to spot purchase services with unagreed and fluctuating prices. In addition, not having this service covered by a corporate contract with centralised management could mean delays, cancellations, non-delivery and the inability for volume/diverse language requirements to be met, potentially putting residents at a disadvantage.

.

Full Procurement exercise or Mini Competition via the existing framework

It is estimated that to conduct a mini competition or full procurement exercise including

evaluating the tenders, implementation periods, implementing new IT systems, delivering

training for Council services in accessing the new provider services, along with settling in a

new supplier would take considerable officer time and resources which would far outweigh any cost avoidance or savings that a new provider could potentially deliver. Taking this into

consideration this option was not considered to deliver the best value for money for the

Council.

Childrens Commissioning are aware of an alternative service for the translation of documents with Amazon Translate which would reduce the cost of translation of documents significantly and has the potential to generate savings. This is currently being explored to understand more about the service and how Peterborough City Council can utilise this. Procurement have confirmed that the contract with Language Line Ltd is not exclusive and therefore we do not have to use all of their services and therefore utilising this service would not affect the contents of this paper or the recommendation to Direct Award to Language Line Ltd