Decision

The Assistant Director of Property and Investment has approved the award of a contract for the Flooring Works Schedule of Rates Contract to Wilsons Development and Construction Ltd (Company Number 8983160) as the most advantageous tenderer for a period of 2 years with the option to extend for a further year on two occasions to undertake planned preventive maintenance and reactive repairs in relation to the Council's land and property with an estimated contract value of £400,000 over a period of four years

Reasons for the decision

Wirral Borough Council has a large portfolio of assets that require flooring works, including planned and reactive work. Ensuring that the Council has the ability to appoint contractors to do this work is an essential step to take.

Presently the Facilities Management team provide 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 flooring works contract will allow the Council's Facilities Management team to deliver flooring works reactive repairs and planned preventative maintenance work on the Council's land and property portfolio. This includes minor capital maintenance works.

Tenders were advertised to 94 suppliers with 3 noting an intent to respond. The 2 tenders were submitted, including from Wilsons Development and Construction Ltd. They were 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 Wilsons Development and Construction 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 relevant Health and Safety Legislation and Regulations

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