Purpose

Insurance contracts
are due for renewal from 01 April 2026. The timetable for
consideration of options and completion of the renewal exercise
means that evaluation will not take place until January-February
2026 and if a full tender exercise is undertaken the contract award
needs to be made by early March 2026. This will not leave
sufficient time for a report to be prepared in time for any
financial implications on the insurance budget to be assessed for
inclusion in the 2026/27 budget.

It is therefore proposed that the Leader of the Council authorises
the procurement process and delegates authority to the Service
Director for Finance to award the contract, where they would not
already have the authority to do so, to ensure the provision of
insurance will take effect from 01 April 2026.
 
Once the first
decision has been taken, the Service Director for Finance will take
a further decision to award the contract, where they would not
already have the authority to do so, to ensure the provision of
insurance will take effect from 01 April 2026.