Decision

The Assistant Director of Property and
Investment has approved the award of a contract for the Water
Hygiene Remedials Schedule of Rates to HSL Compliance Ltd (Company
Number 2425951) for a period of 2 years with the option to extend
for a further year on two occasions to undertake planned preventive
maintenance, reactive repairs and emergency repairs in relation to
the Council's land and property with an estimated contract value of
£280,000 over a period of four years

Reasons for the decision

Wirral Borough Council manages an extensive
portfolio of properties, many of which contain water systems that
require remedial works following monitoring and testing. To ensure
compliance with the Approved Code of Practice L8 –
Legionnaires’ Disease: The Control of Legionella Bacteria in
Water Systems – the Council must carry out the remedial works
recommended by the monitoring reports. Establishing the means to
appoint qualified contractors to perform these essential tasks is a
critical step in maintaining legal compliance and safeguarding
public health.

Presently the Facilities Management team provides planned and
reactive maintenance services for the Council's land and property
either directly or on behalf of the Council's service areas. In
addition, the Council is implementing a Corporate Landlord Model,
whereby ultimately this team will be responsible for the
maintenance of Council owned land and buildings in the future,
excepting schools, which have differing management arrangements.
The Council's property portfolio is comprised of a mixture of
operational and non-operational assets, ranging from offices and
publicly accessed venues, commercial and retail properties and
assets held for regeneration and schools.

The Council has a statutory duty to ensure that its assets comply
with relevant Health and Safety legislation.

The award of the new Water Hygiene Remedials contract will allow
the Council's Facilities Management team to deliver water hygiene
remedial services, emergency repairs, reactive repairs, and planned
preventative maintenance work on the Council's land and property
portfolio. This includes minor capital maintenance works.

Tenders were sought from 10 suppliers. Only one tender was received
that being submitted by HSL Compliance Ltd.. The tender was
evaluated on price, quality and social value submissions and
moderated with the Council’s Procurement Team. Details of the
tender evaluation are set out in the exempt Appendix 1.

Appendix 1 is exempt from publication pursuant to paragraph 3 of
part 1 of Schedule 12 A of the Local Government Act 1972
(Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any
particular person (including the authority holding that
information)) because it contains or refers to information relating
to the financial and business affairs of tenderers and the Council
and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the
public interest in disclosure.

The evaluation criteria was based on price (50%), quality (40%) and
social value (10%).

Quality elements of the tender return were evaluated by three
officers from the Asset Management team, completing individual
scoring sheets which were moderated by Procurement.

The Pricing element of the tender return was scored separately by
the Procurement team .

The final scores were brought together by the Procurement team in a
weighted "evaluation matrix" which determined the preferred
tenderer. The tender submitted by HSL Compliance Ltd represents the
most advantageous tender received.

Alternative options considered

There is not a do-nothing option. The Council
needs to have a contract in place as the Council has a statutory
duty to ensure that its assets comply with the Health and Safety at
Work Act 1974, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
Regulations 2002 (COSHH) and the Approved Code of Practice L8
– Legionnaires Disease.

The Council could look to let individual pieces of work on a
case-by-case basis. This would present a significant challenge to
administer, significantly increase the cost of administration and
would not be satisfactory for certain works, for example emergency
call out. Not commissioning would generate significant challenges
to the Facilities Management team, impacting their operational
effectiveness, in provision of works and would have significant
implications for the operation of the Council's property portfolio,
which may lead to asset non availability or Health and Safety
implications.

The Council could explore other options, for example outsourcing
models, however there is a requirement for a contract to be in
place now to enable delivery of works and any development of a
proposal for outsourcing would need to be properly developed, so
the best outcome for the Council could be achieved and the contract
mobilised.