Decision details

In accordance with the Council’s decision making processes, the approval to procure via a mini competition process from this Framework Contract was taken as a Key Decision and included on the List of Forthcoming Key Decisions on 15th August for a period of 28 days. This Key Decision is subject to Call In.
The Terms and Conditions of the Framework Contract allowed for either direct call off from the framework or award via a mini competition exercise. Further to discussions with Procurement, it was agreed to make a direct award. However, following an initial evaluation on both price (70%) and quality (30%), it is apparent that there is little to differentiate between the suppliers on quality, while the best priced supplier is offering only a marginal improvement on the rebate rates that the Council currently receives.
It is therefore proposed that the Council tests the competitiveness of the suppliers under a mini competitive process. This will be conducted in line with the terms and conditions of the framework agreement. Following the award of the contract under this mini competition process, a period of transition will be required in order to exit from one supplier and migrate to the new supplier. It is therefore proposed that a further short term contract is awarded to Barclays from 10th October 2014 to 31st March 2015 to allow for this transition to be carried out in a planned way, ensuring that ICT issues are addressed and that there is sufficient time to train and communicate with card users across the council.