Schools Forum / Item 5
12 May 2011
Contracts Affecting Schools
Report by the Director of Culture, Communities and Business Services
Contact: Shaun Le Picq, 01962 846216,
Nigel Lacey, 01962 826912,
1 / Summary1.1 / The purpose of this report is to provide members of the Schools Forum with information relating to the programme of contracting activity that is likely to be undertaken, on behalf of schools and the County Council, by County Supplies, part of the Culture, Communities and Business Services Department (CCBS). These details are intended to enable the Forum to determine any requirement for further consultation about individual contract arrangements.
1.2 / County Supplies seeks to provide schools with a wide range of pre-tendered, value-for-money arrangements for goods and services. Relatively few contracts require a firm or long-term commitment from schools. Schools continue to give strong support to these arrangements.
1.3 / County Supplies continues to be heavily involved in, and often takes the lead on, collaborative procurement arrangements on behalf of schools through the Central Buying Consortium. It is also supporting further collaboration between the main local government consortia (known as ‘Pro5’) and is involved in regular discussions with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Department for Education on collaborative procurement arrangements on behalf of schools.
1.4 / Dialogue between representatives of schools and County Supplies already takes place, but this report is intended to provide a formal opportunity to identify specific contracts where formal consultation is required or needs to be extended. Consequently, the Forum is asked to consider whether it requires further reports on any individual contract and identify any issues that need to be addressed, particularly in relation to contract specifications, performance and the range of contracts in place.
2. / Background
2.1 / The functions of the Schools Forum include a requirement for the County Council to consult the Forum on the terms of any relevant contract at least one month prior to the invitation of tenders. This formal requirement applies to contracts with a value in excess of the thresholds stated in the relevant E.U. Procurement Directives (approximately £156,000) and which are funded from delegated budgets through buy-back arrangements or from retained funds within the Schools Budget. A report based on these criteria would involve relatively few contracts and it has previously been agreed that more comprehensive information would be reported. This report follows a similar format as those considered by the Forum in recent years.
2.2 / County Supplies provides a purchasing, distribution and advice service to all parts of the County Council and to eligible external customers. A key function is to aggregate the expenditure of a wide range of budget holders in order to establish purchasing and supply arrangements that offer value-for-money, avoid unnecessary duplication of effort, provide the security of the County Council’s contract terms and conditions and offer compliance with Contract Standing Orders. The County Council places a general requirement on departments to use these arrangements, but for the majority of contracts, the participation of schools is based on their decision to ‘opt in’ or place orders with the companies appointed by County Supplies.
2.3 / In 2010/11, responsibility for the procurement of ICT and property contracts was transferred to the County Supplies’ portfolio of contracts taking the total value of contracts under direct management to over £200 million per annum (including expenditure by external bodies).
3. / Forthcoming Contracts
3.1 / A list of forthcoming contracts for the period up to November 2012 is shown in Appendix One. The list is shown in date order and includes:
· framework arrangements that enable budget holders to source their requirements direct from a supplier or contractor
· ‘group’ service and supply contracts
· goods supplied through County Supplies’ warehouse operation, and
· contracts not specifically for schools have been included as they may be of interest and show the scope of work undertaken by County Supplies.
3.2 / Contracts not managed by County Supplies are not included in this report. The list of contracts in Appendix One also excludes all contracts that are concluded on behalf of individual schools. In excess of sixty of these ‘single site’ contracts, or mini-competitions against existing framework agreements, for services such as catering, cleaning, grounds maintenance and security, are expected to be tendered over the next eighteen months.
3.3 / The value stated for each contract is to provide a general indication only. Most contracts include a provision for the initial contract period to be extended by at least one year and this may mean that the next tendering exercise takes place later than stated.
3.4 / Contracts are reviewed periodically and opportunities for schools to give feedback on contracts are available in the form of the Primary Headteachers’ Conference (CCBS Standing Committee), the County Supplies Administration Officers User Group and normal communication channels. Subject to the agreement of the Forum, this report will be circulated to the attendees of the CCBS liaison meetings with both primary and secondary headteachers for review and comment.
3.5 / Following the success of the catering framework in delivering much improved, customer focussed response to individual school requirements, we will be seeking to expand this type of arrangement into other areas including Security Services in the forthcoming period.
4. / Energy Procurement
4.1 / As reported to the Forum last year, the County Council’s arrangements for the supply of both electricity and gas have been reviewed.
4.2 / It is recognised by bodies such as the Cabinet Office that collective buying of energy offers the greatest scope for value for money over the longer term, within a rapidly fluctuating energy market. Therefore County Supplies took the decision in April this year to link with Kent County Council’s Energy Procurement Team (known as LASER), and purchase electricity via a more ‘flexible’ arrangement, rather than all in one go. In effect, schools should see no difference in the service they currently receive and letters explaining the new arrangements were sent out prior to the Easter break.
5. / Collaboration and Efficiency
5.1 / County Supplies continues to be heavily involved in, and often takes the lead on, collaborative procurement arrangements on behalf of schools through the Central Buying Consortium (CBC). It is also supporting further collaboration between the five main local government consortia (known as Pro5) and is involved in regular discussions with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Department for Education on efficiencies and collaborative procurement arrangements on behalf of schools.
5.2 / Collaborative contracts are identified in the attached schedule and, in total, more than £37 million is directed through these collaborative arrangements each year. This collaboration typically achieves an average of at least 10% savings. It is estimated that price reductions of c. £230,000 were achieved for schools in 2010/11 through re-tendering and new contracts.
6. / Recommendations
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4 / Schools Forum is recommended to note the programme of contracting activity and collaborative procurement arrangements to be undertaken by County Supplies.
Schools Forum is recommended to determine whether further detailed consultation with the Forum is required on any of the contracts due to be let as shown in Appendix One.
Schools Forum is recommended to confirm that it wishes this report to be presented to the existing liaison meetings between the Culture, Communities and Business Services Department and the Primary and Secondary Head Teachers’ Conferences.
Schools Forum is recommended to receive a further update on forthcoming contracts in twelve months time.
Appendix One
(a) Forthcoming Contracts - Direct Supply/ Call-off Arrangements
Collaborative* / Title / Date / Indicative Annual Value(£000's) /
Start dates up to 1st April 2012 /
* / Heavy Sports Goods / 01-Apr-10 / 50 /
* / Adhesives and Glitter / 01-Apr-10 / 260 /
* / Education Audio Goods / 01-Sep-10 / 322 /
* / Adhesive Tapes / 01-Oct-10 / 20 /
* / Art, Craft and Display Papers / 01-Oct-10 / 105 /
* / Periodicals / 01-Jan-11 / 108 /
/ Frozen Products / 01-Jan-11 / 300 /
* / Graphic Design / 01-Jan-11 / 360 /
* / Dictation Equipment & Associated Sundries / 01-Feb-11 / 7 /
* / Modelling Materials / 01-Feb-11 / 42 /
* / VMWare consolidated renewal / 27-Feb-11 / 60 /
* / Hand Held & Power Tools / 01-Mar-11 / 3 /
* / Washroom Paper Disposables / 01-Mar-11 / 800 /
/ Office Furniture Tender for HCC / 01-Mar-11 / 1,500 /
/ Microscope Repair / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Oscilloscope M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Facsimile machines M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Pottery Equipment M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Cameras M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Electric pencil sharper M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Sewing machines M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Stairmates Service / 01-Apr-11 / 1 /
/ Microwave cooker M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 2 /
/ Mobile gas heater hire / 01-Apr-11 / 5 /
/ Aerial Services / 01-Apr-11 / 5 /
/ Saw sharpening / 01-Apr-11 / 5 /
* / Oscillating Fans & Heaters / 01-Apr-11 / 5 /
* / Wood & Balsa / 01-Apr-11 / 6 /
* / Document Presentation / 01-Apr-11 / 6 /
* / Paints & Sundries / 01-Apr-11 / 8 /
/ Workshop machines M & R / 01-Apr-11 / 20 /
* / Library Binding Services / 01-Apr-11 / 20 /
* / Pulses, Rice, Cereals / 01-Apr-11 / 30 /
* / Business Objects consolidated product list / 01-Apr-11 / 76 /
/ Maintenance of AV Equipment / 01-Apr-11 / 80 /
* / Photographic Equipment / 01-Apr-11 / 100 /
* / Office Machines / 01-Apr-11 / 107 /
* / Oracle Maintenance / 01-Apr-11 / 113 /
* / AV Solutions / 01-Apr-11 / 125 /
* / Early Years and Nursery Furniture / 01-Apr-11 / 140 /
* / Hantsdirect Phases I, II & III. Annual maintenance and self service / 01-Apr-11 / 153 /
* / Medical Gloves / 01-Apr-11 / 170 /
* / Catering Disposables / 01-Apr-11 / 180 /
* / General Sports Goods / 01-Apr-11 / 200 /
* / Flour Mixes / 01-Apr-11 / 250 /
* / Software / 01-Apr-11 / 366 /
* / PPE, Corporate Clothing & School wear / 01-Apr-11 / 650 /
* / Middleware / 01-Apr-11 / 977 /
/ RF Warehouse system - maintenance / 30-Apr-11 / 350 /
/ Supply of Inkjet Refills / 01-May-11 / 10 /
* / Office Fasteners / 01-May-11 / 21 /
* / SWIFT Maintenance / 01-May-11 / 60 /
* / Library Security Contract / 01-May-11 / 75 /
* / Print (Framework & Ancillary Services) / 01-May-11 / 729 /
/ UNIX Consolidation / 31-May-11 / 16 /
/ Grounds Maintenance Services - Countryside Access - Vegetation Clearance on Public Rights of Way, Other Public Paths and Areas of Open Space with Public Access / 01-Jun-11 / 16 /
* / Signs / 01-Jun-11 / 17 /
* / Dividers, Guide and Record Cards / 01-Jun-11 / 29 /
* / Staplers, Staples and Perforators / 01-Jun-11 / 33 /
/ Bakery / 01-Jun-11 / 60 /
* / Fats, Oils / 01-Jun-11 / 75 /
* / Tyres & Tubes / 01-Jun-11 / 100 /
/ Inspection and Testing of Portable Electrical Appliances / 01-Jun-11 / 120 /
* / Baked Beans, Tomatoes / 01-Jun-11 / 150 /
* / Outdoor Furniture / 01-Jun-11 / 150 /
* / Web Offset Printing / 01-Jun-11 / 150 /
* / Sugar / 01-Jun-11 / 170 /
* / Beverages and Refreshments / 01-Jun-11 / 300 /
/ Security - Schools and Vacant Sites framework / 01-Jun-11 / 395 /
* / School and Corporate Textbooks / 01-Jun-11 / 2,900 /
/ Music Supply / 01-Jul-11 / 17 /
* / Local Stationery / 01-Jul-11 / 41 /
* / Zipped Wallets / 01-Jul-11 / 56 /
* / Music Equipment / 01-Jul-11 / 300 /
/ Breakout and Project Related Furniture / 01-Jul-11 / 400 /
* / Furniture - Office Desking & Seating / 01-Jul-11 / 675 /
* / Rubber Stamps / 01-Aug-11 / 7 /
* / Linen & Bedding / 01-Aug-11 / 15 /
* / Electric Lamps & Tubes / 01-Aug-11 / 30 /
* / Vending Equipment & Supplies / 01-Aug-11 / 100 /
* / Mailroom Equipment / 01-Aug-11 / 179 /
/ Project Management and Installation / 01-Aug-11 / 500 /
/ Provision of Regional E-Recruitment Portal / 03-Aug-11 / 96 /
* / Pan Fried Chips / 01-Sep-11 / 30 /
* / Cartridge Paper and Pads / 01-Sep-11 / 40 /
* / Creative Textiles / 01-Sep-11 / 45 /
/ Eye Care / 01-Sep-11 / 50 /
* / Wooden Storage Furniture / 01-Sep-11 / 60 /
/ Canned Fruit / 01-Sep-11 / 85 /
/ Security - Eastleigh College / 01-Sep-11 / 90 /
* / Envelopes / 01-Sep-11 / 92 /
/ Public Notice Advertising / 01-Sep-11 / 200 /
* / Soft Drinks / 01-Sep-11 / 200 /
* / Cheese / 01-Sep-11 / 400 /
/ Classroom Furniture - Storage / 01-Sep-11 / 400 /
/ Removal Services / 01-Sep-11 / 450 /
/ Security - Non-Ed Framework / 01-Sep-11 / 500 /
/ Mail Services framework / 01-Sep-11 / 3,000 /
/ Temporary Teaching and Support Staff for Schools and Children's Centres / 01-Sep-11 / 3,500 /
/ Supply of Temporary Workers / 01-Sep-11 / 8,000 /
/ Direct Debit Administration / 15-Sep-11 / 20 /
/ Propane gas, bulk and cylinder / 01-Oct-11 / 15 /
* / Drawing Equipment / 01-Oct-11 / 18 /
* / Desktop Requirements / 01-Oct-11 / 20 /
* / Office Books and Pads / 01-Oct-11 / 29 /