Content

Salford City Council – Record of
Decision
 
I, Councillor Youd, Lead Member
for Finance and Support Services and chairman of the Procurement
Board, in exercise of the powers contained within the
Council Constitution
do hereby approve:
 
·     
the award of a contract to The Centre for Specialist
Educational Assistance Ltd (known as Binoh of Manchester), as
detailed in the table below:
 

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Brokerage, Support,
Training and Advice Service for schools and families in the
Orthodox Jewish Communities in Salford, throughout all stages of
the SEND process for ages 0-25

Name of Successful
Contractor

The Centre for
Specialist Educational Assistance Ltd (known as Binoh of
Manchester)

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Corporate
Procurement)

03228893

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by Corporate
Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by Corporate
Procurement)

SME

Contract Value (£)

£         
318,320 full project

Contract Duration

60 months

Contract Start Date

01/09/2024

Contract End Date

31/08/2027

Optional Extension Period 1

24 months

Optional Extension Period 2

Not applicable

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Strategic Director (extension <
£150k)

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

Lead Service Group

People Services

How the contract was procured?

(to be supplied by
procurement)

Open Tender

Framework Details (where
applicable)

(procurement body, framework reference
& title, start/ end date

Not applicable

Funding Source

Choose an item.

Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s
Employment Charter

 

EC: Committed to sign Charter

x
 

EC: Accredited Living Wage
Employer

x

 
The Reasons are:

·     
The request to award the contract follows a
compliant procurement and commissioning process which was carried
out via an Open Tender process.

·     
The process was designed to find the most
economically advantageous tender i.e., that which offered the
optimum combination of service capability, quality and price,
within the affordability parameters for the buying
organisation.

·     
The winning bidder, The Centre for Specialist
Educational Assistance Ltd (known as Binoh of Manchester) scored
76.42%, which was 10.7% more than the other bidder, Provider
B. 

·     
Consequently, the recommendation is that The Centre
for Specialist Educational Assistance Ltd (known as Binoh of
Manchester) should be confirmed as the Recommended Bidder and that
engagement begin with them to progress toward contract signature
and subsequent delivery from 01.09.24. 
 
Options considered and rejected
were: not to award the
contract.
 
Assessment of Risk: The
delivery of this service assists the Council to meet its SEND
obligations to Jewish children, young people, their families, and
schools in Salford. These obligations are explained in The SEND
Regulations 2014 (Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014);
Education Act 1996 and the SEN & Disability Act 2001. If this
contract is not awarded there would be a high risk that the Council
would not be meeting these obligations from the start of the new
contract, 01/09/2024 onwards.
 
  The source of funding is: This funding comes out of the High
Needs Block DSG and is part of the ‘Other Faith’
section. The cost for this service is already built into the
allocation for the High Needs Block services. An agreed fixed
amount will assist in the forecasting and will continue to be
monitored as part of the DSG allocation as a whole.
 
Legal Advice obtained: Tony Hatton, Solicitor, 0161 219
6323; Date provided: 17.04.24.
When
commissioning contracts for the procurement of goods, services or
the execution of works the Council as a ‘contracting
authority’ must comply with the Public Contract Regulations
2015 (PCR) as well as the provisions of its own Contractual
Standing Orders (CSO’s), Financial Regulations and the duties
of Best and Social value, failing which the award of a contract may
be subject to legal challenge.
 
The
report sets out that the Council proposes to award the contract for
the Special Educational Needs and
Disabilities Brokerage, Support, Training and Advice Service for
schools and families in the Orthodox Jewish Communities
following a compliant procurement process using the
open tender procedure. Having undertaken the tender exercise in
this way will give some comfort to the Council in ensuring that
value for money is being obtained and tested, with open competition
maintained. The carrying out of a compliant procurement exercise
will ensure that the risk of challenge to the award of the contract
to Binoh is minimal and that any challenge, should it materialise,
is unlikely to be successful.
 
Financial Advice
obtained: Beth Mitchell,
Senior Accountant, 0161 793 3205; Date provided:
23.04.24
  This funding comes out of the High
Needs Block DSG and is part of the ‘Other Faith’
section. The cost for this service is already built into the
allocation for the High Needs Block services. An agreed fixed
amount will assist in the forecasting and will continue to be
monitored as part of the DSG allocation as a whole.
 
Procurement Advice obtained:
Colette Hilton, Procurement Officer, 0161 686 6248   Date provided: 18.04.24.
The procurement team
assisted the commissioner in completing the market engagement
exercise to establish provider interest in bidding for the service.
The opportunity was advertised as an open procedure through FTS,
contracts finder and The Chest. The process is outlined within the
above report. The process complies with Procurement Contract
Regulations and the Council’s contractual standing
orders.
The organisation has
stated they will sign-up to the Mayors Employment Charter and
become Living Wage Accredited and we will work with the
commissioner to ensure that the provider actions these
commitments.
 
HR Advice obtained:
N/A.
 
Climate Change Implications obtained; Stephen Titley,
Commissioning Manager, 07977495118, in consultation with Michael
Hemingway, Principal Officer, Climate Change, 0161 793 3209 Date
provided:18.04.24
The winning bidder is located
in the heart of the community that this contract serves, near to
good public transport links and also promotes car sharing, this
will help to keep the mileage of car journeys to visit schools and
parents down. The bidder also has recycling and environmental
policies that apply to its office operations.
 
The following
documents have been used to assist the decision process:
·     
Report of the Executive Director, Children's
Services to Procurement Board on 14 February 2024, TITLE:
Approval to go out to competition for a Special Educational Needs
and Disabilities Brokerage, Support, Training and Advice Service
for schools and families in the Orthodox Jewish Communities in
Salford throughout all stages of the SEND process for ages
0-25.
 
Contact Officers:  Steve
Titley 07977 495 118 and Geoff Catterall 0161 793 3312
 
·     
This matter is also subject to consider by the Lead
Member for Children’s Services. The Lead Member has been
consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract.
·     
This matter is not subject to consideration by
another Lead Member.
·     
The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the
decision is the Children’s Services Scrutiny
Committee.
 
 
 
 
 

Signed:    Cllr J
Youd          Dated:    22 May
2024.
           
 Lead Member
 

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE
ONLY
 
*          
This decision was published on 23 May 2024
*          
This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 31 May 2024
unless it is called-in in
accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.