Purpose

The Annual Canvass of Households in the
District is a function of the Electoral Registration Officer and,
accordingly, the District Council will provide the means by which
that Officer can conduct the Canvass and the costs shall be borne
by the Council.
Prior to the award of the contract, a procurement exercise was
conducted by advertising the specification of requirements on Find
a Tender: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025032-2025
The deadline for submission of bids was 17 June 2025. The bids
submitted were subject to evaluation by a panel. The evaluation
comprised of Commercial and Technical assessment. 9 companies
submitted bids to supply these services. The highest scoring
company in both the Commercial and Technical evaluations was
SCIprint Limited. SCIprint Limited were the incumbent contractor,
have a solid verified reputation with colleagues in the electoral
community and have given no concerns to the authority during their
previous canvass contract period. The bid submitted by SCIprint
Limited was the lowest in cost terms.

Content

That the Council shall meet the costs of the
award by the Deputy Electoral Registration Officer of a contract,
following bids from potential suppliers, in respect of Electoral
Registration Canvass costs from printing and postage to be
undertaken in 2025, 2026, 2027 by SCIprint Limited. The value of
the print work for the initial three year period is anticipated to
be approximately £17,805. Postage costs are in addition to
these charges and expected to be approximately £66,367. The
cost for 2025 will be broadly similar to that incurred in 2024 for
the same activity. Precise costs will depend upon response rates,
Royal Mail charges and the number of reminders needing to be
issued. The cost falls within the overall budget for the service as
provided by the Council.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - To use another print and postage
supplier and incur increased costs. This was rejected as there was
a need to consider the fiduciary duty owed to Council Tax payers
locally.
Option 2 -
Option 3 -