Decisions

A retail market for the provision of water and wastewater has opened and an opportunity exists for the County Council to procure a single water retail supplier to bundle and manage the services for its corporate estate received from six different wholesale suppliers.

The key benefits of this procurement involve

(a) a lower overall cost for water and wastewater services

(b) more accurate and timely invoicing

(c) streamlined query management processes and

(d) opportunities to identify water efficiencies.

The Executive Director of Place Services has approved the commencement of a Competitive Call Off procurement process from the CCS Framework Agreement Ref. RM3790 to source a water retailer.

It is also approved that authority is delegated to the Director of Environment & Public Protection to award a fixed term contract of 3 years with the option to extend the contract for an additional 1 year (3+1) to the successful bidder following a procurement process. The intended award date is Summer 2019.

The County Council operates a Fleet Asset Management Plan that details the vehicles and equipment due for replacement over a rolling five-year period.

Decision OKD05 17/18 approved the commencement of a procurement for 6 fire appliances.  Following a review of the requirement, this was subsequently updated to 7 and communicated as part of a Member Information Service (MIS) summary in December 2018.

As part of Decision SCC14 17/18 the authority was delegated to the Chief Fire Officer to award contracts as part of the delivery of the Fleet Asset Management Plan.

The procurement process has been undertaken and the Chief Fire Officer now awards the contract for 7 fire appliances.

The Chief Fire Officer has approved that the contract to build Seven

12 tonne fire appliances be awarded to Emergency One (Uk) Ltd.

Fuel Cards are used in Council vehicles to allow staff to draw fuel from most fuel stations.

It was agreed in May 2018 (as part of Decision OKD02 18/19) that the Council would extend the current contract with All Star Business Solutions Limited for a period of 2 years (until 30^th April 2020) to maintain business continuity but to also seek opportunities to collaborate with other Emergency Services in the UK.

A further competition on behalf of all Emergency Service organisations in the UK has now been completed using Crown Commercial Service (CCS) Framework Agreement for Fuel Cards and Associated Services (RM 6000) with All Star Business Solutions Limited identified as the winning supplier.

The Council was named on the tender documentation and is able to access the new arrangement immediately and take advantage of the improved commercial terms on offer.

The contract period would be for an initial term of 22 months (until 22 March 2021) with an option to extend by a further 2 years until 22 March 2023.

The Chief Fire Officer has approved;

(1)        that a call-off contract is entered into with All Star Business Solutions Limited using the commercial terms established by the further competition conducted on behalf of UK Emergency Services under the CCS Framework Agreement for Fuel Cards (RM6000); and

(2)        early notice on the current contract (as permitted in the contract) to allow the Council to transition to the new arrangements as soon as possible.

Local Authorities are mandated to provide comprehensive sexual health services for the population, these include;

•    a full range of contraceptive services and advice on preventing pregnancy

•    sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, including the provision of Chlamydia testing services for young people under the age of 25 years

•    sexual health aspects of psychosexual counselling

•    outreach, HIV prevention and sexual health promotion

•    provision of services in schools and colleges

Following Cabinet Member (Adults and Health) agreement a joint procurement process will commence, with NHS England, to secure the provision of Integrated Sexual Health Services and HIV Treatment Services for the population of West Sussex. A new service will be effective from 1st February 2020.  

The contract award and decisions about future extension of this contract will be delegated to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adults and Health.

The Cabinet Member for Adults and Health has approved;

(1)        agreement to the commencement of an open competitive procurement process for a contract for the provision of integrated sexual health for service commencement on 1st February 2020 for an initial period of three (3) years with the option to extend up to two (2) further years at a total value of £21.5m. This to be undertaken jointly with NHSE HIV service recommissioning;

(2)        that authority is delegated to the Director of Public Health to: (a) award the contract to the bidder that submits the most economically advantageous tender which meets the requirements of the specification, (b) to enter into the contract and (c) to agree to future extensions of the contract up to a maximum contract period; and

(3)        the decision making regarding the protection of NHS pensions is undertaken in collaboration with NHSE and delegated to the Director of Finance and Procurement   

The Chichester Harbour Conservancy was established in 1971 with the function to protect the interests of navigation and the conservation of nature. Since 2000, relevant local authorities have been required to publish a Statutory Management Plan every 5-years for each AONB within their jurisdiction. Chichester Harbour Conservancy, on behalf of Hampshire County Council, West Sussex County Council, Chichester District Council and Havant Borough Council, has produced various Chichester Harbour Management Plans that provide a framework for action to help look after and manage this protected landscape.

There is a legal duty that requires adopted and published management plans to be reviewed at 5-year intervals. This report concerns the third review of the Chichester Harbour Management Plan 2019 – 2024 that establishes a new long-term Vision to 2050 and reaffirms the special qualities of the AONB.

The plan has been developed in consultation with WSCC and other affected local authorities during 2018 and the Harbour Conservancy is presenting the revised plan for formal adoption.

The Cabinet Member for Environment has approved the adoption of the Chichester Harbour Management Plan 2019 – 2024.

The County Council has a statutory duty to provide sufficient school places for all children who need a place. This report seeks approval for the expenditure of an additional £132 000 from the Basic Need capital programme to complete an expansion project at Northgate Primary School, to provide 210 additional school places for primary aged pupils to meet the demand of growing pupil numbers in the Northgate and West Green locality

The Executive Director Economy Infrastructure and Environment has approved the expenditure of an additional £132 000 to enable the completion of the expansion works at Northgate Primary School.

Outside bodies are external organisations, including formal or informal partnerships to which the County Council is a party, which have requested that the County Council appoints an Elected Member or a representative to them or to which the Council expects to make appointments. 

A change of Elected Member representative is proposed for the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE), an outside body which the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills is responsible for making Member appointments to.  The Cabinet Member will be asked to approve the revised membership.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Skills has agreed to appoint Ms Kirsty Lord to SACRE, in place of Mr Bob Smytherman, until the end of the Council term (May 2021), following a request from the Liberal Democrat Group.

The primary objective of this proposal is to procure a provider to develop quality outdoor advertising/sponsorship opportunities in West Sussex that offer a revenue return for the County Council. 

This proposal is a key opportunity to enhance the level of income it generates and sets out the recommendations for developing a West Sussex best practice outdoor media opportunity.  The intention of this opportunity is to generate income through:

a.      Large format advertising, e.g. through billboards, paper and paste, digital hoardings, signage posted on the exterior of brick-and-mortar locations however, it excludes roundabout sponsorship.

b.      County Gateway signs (those placed roadside on entering the county area).

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources has approved:

1)    the commencement of an open procurement process for Outdoor Media Services for West Sussex; and

2)    that authority be delegated to the Director Finance and Resources to grant the award to tender a service concession contract and/or leases of County Council owned land, for a period of 5 years with the option to extend up to a further 5 years.

The Fleet Asset Management Plan 2018/19 – 2022/23 sets-out a five-year rolling programme of Fleet and Asset renewal across the Council, including for the Fire and Rescue Service (Decision Report ref: SSC14 17/18)

As part of this programme, 30 vehicles allocated to staff in the Fire and Rescue Service are due for replacement in the financial year 2019/20. These vehicles are provided to staff to support operational cover through a Flexi Duty System (FDS).

The total value of the purchase of vehicles, including emergency service conversions and livery, is expected to be approximately £750,000.

As part of decision SSC14 17/18, the authority to award contracts for vehicle and equipment purchases has been delegated to the Chief Fire Officer and Director of Operations.

On this basis, the Chief Fire Officer and Director of Operations will be asked to approve the commencement of a procurement process to replace the current vehicles using an agreed specification.

The Chief Fire Officer and Director of Operations has approved:

1)   the commencement of a compliant procurement process using the CCS Framework Agreement RM6060 to source 35 vehicles using an agreed specification;

2)   the award of contract to the successful bidder; and

3)   the most cost-effective financing option following the purchase of the vehicles (made at the time of purchase).

There are 10 diesel fuel bunkers located around West Sussex that provide the Council with resilience at a time of national shortage and/or extreme weather.

In 2017, working with Blue Light organisations under Surrey and Sussex Emergency Services Collaboration Programme, the Council was able to aggregate its diesel fuel requirement with the wider group and procure a ‘purchase and delivery’ solution across the Surrey and Sussex area. Each organisation entered into their own contract with the winning supplier.

The contract for this arrangement is due to expire in September 2019 and a replacement contract will need to be procured.  It is anticipated that the collaborative group will once again aggregate their requirements to continue to maximise buying power across the area.

Anticipated annual spend for the Council is £250,000 p.a. The proposed contract length is 30 months.

The Chief Fire Officer and Director of Operations has approved that;

1)   the Council commences a collaborative procurement with Blue Light partners to re-tender the overall diesel fuel requirement for the 10 sites using the CCS Framework Agreement for Liquid Fuels (RM3801); and

2)   the mini-competition will take place in July 2019 with the proposed contract commencing on 1st October 2019 and expiring on 31st March 2022.