Decision

The
Director of Neighbourhood Services has decided to approve the Award
of a contract for the purchasing of 2 gully cleansing vehicles
along with a maintenance package to Whale Tankers Ltd at a total
cost of £453,720.
 

Reasons for the decision

This notice is to
confirm the award of a contract to purchase 2 gully vehicles from
Whale Tankers Ltd.
 
The Council’s
existing gully vehicle was reaching the end of its natural life and
needed replacing. Given the increasing pressure of surface water
flooding due to climate change, Council decided to renew the old
vehicle and purchase an extra vehicle to increase the
Council’s capacity to maintain its highway drainage
system.
 
Given such vehicles
are of a specialist nature an existing contract framework was
sought to put out a tender for the purchasing. It was decided the
tender would include a maintenance package.
 
Using the TPPL/NEPO
HGV and specialist vehicle framework Ref NEPO224 Lot 5: Specialist
conversations, a tender was put out on the chest, the successful
tenderer was Whale Tankers Ltd
 
The tender criteria
weighting, was
 
Quality 50%
Price 40%
Social value 10%
 
The purchase and
maintenance is within the budget allowed
for this procurement.
 

Alternative options considered

The existing gully
tank was reaching the end of its working life and since the
decision was made to purchase new vehicles, the vehicle has been
deemed unsafe and beyond repair.
 
The maintenance of
highway drainage assets is a statutory function under section 41 of
the Highways Act 1980; therefore such vehicles are a necessity.
 
The Council could look
to hire a specialist vehicle but the cost of this is a lot higher
than purchasing, so was not considered as a long-term value for
money option.