Decisions

A Transformation Project was approved in December 2022 to review the Council’s Community Equipment Service (CES).  The review recommends that the Council should no longer deliver this service and establish an employee owned mutual and procure a business partner to have a minority interest on the organisation.

Recommendation is to approve commencing a procurement process for a business partner to have a minority stake in an employee owned mutual company with CES.

RESOLVED: To

1.     Approve the strategy set out in this report which will lead to the procurement of a contract with a delivery partner for the provision of the CES through the delivery vehicle of an employee owned mutual (as further detailed in this report) over a term of seven years with the option to extend for a further three years for an estimated contract value to the Council of £42,971,673.

2.     Note that the contract value stated above excludes the value of the CES provided under existing contracts held by the Council with other local authorities (including an inter-authority collaboration agreement for the Provision and Maintenance of a Community Equipment Shared Service Framework hosted by the Council, an update to which is being progressed for delegated approval.) Such contractual arrangements will in future be fulfilled via the contract to be procured pursuant to this strategy;

3.     Note that the strategy includes the potential for transfer and/or disposal of certain service-related Council assets and that prior to any transfer taking place any necessary governance approval will be sought.

4.     Note that a draw-down from the transformation project budget totalling £234k is required to deliver the project.