Purpose

The Chief Executive of Southend on Sea Council
is to be the appointed Combined County Authority Returning Officer
(CCARO) for the Mayoral election in 2026. One of the statutory
duties of the CCARO is to produce and distribute a booklet, known
as the Election Address, to be sent to each registered elector.
Within the Greater Essex area this amounts to circa 1.4m
people.  This report seeks approval to
commence the procurement for the printing and distribution of this
booklet.
 
The costs in relation to the production and
distribution of the booklet will initially be met by Southend on
Sea City Council, Thurrock Council and Essex County Council, and
subsequently claimed back from the Greater Essex Combined County
Authority (GECCA) once established.
 

Content

1.       Approve the
commencement of a competitive tender process for printing and
distribution of circa 1.4m Election Address booklets.

 

2.      
Delegate authority to the Director Law and Governance, in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Law and
Governance, to award the contract to the successful provider based
upon the outcome of that process.
 

Reasons for the decision

The requirement for the Election Address
booklets to be produced and distributed by the CCARO is set out in
The Combined Authorities (Mayoral Elections) Order 2017.
 
Commencing the procurement activity at the
earliest possible opportunity ensures a robust and well-planned
process can be followed and ensures that the statutory requirement
can be met.