Issue - meetings

Background:

This report provided details of the procurement process for the award of the contract for the Infrastructure Support Services for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Medway (including Volunteering).

It was noted that the Partnership Commissioning Team had decided to follow an Open Procedure for this procurement opportunity to encourage as much interest as possible from the VCS.  A specification was developed in consultation with VCS providers through an engagement event, on the 12 September 2013 held at the Corn Exchange, Rochester.  In order to be more inclusive towards VCS organisations the timeframe to complete the tenders was extended, as requested by VCS providers at the engagement event. The OJEU Open process was therefore extended from the standard 45 days to 64 days.

The Procurement Board considered this report on 18 February 2014 and supported the recommendation set out in the report.

An exempt appendix provided details of the finance and whole-life costings, together with tender evaluation information.

Reasons:

The decision to award a three-year contract to the supplier is consistent with priorities outlined in the Council Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. These documents acknowledge the supplier has a strong foundation on which to build an empowered and self-confident society, providing a range of services for local people/communities including engaging with the most hard to reach groups.  This procurement has provided an opportunity to revise the service specification to create a service which responds to and meets the diverse needs of Medway residents and to combine volunteer centre services and voluntary sector support services into one contract. 

The proposed contract will deliver much improved volunteer centre and voluntary sector support services, and has achieved a cost saving by consolidating three current service contracts into one.

The provision of volunteer centre services and voluntary sector support services across Medway is consistent with both the national and local move to harness social capital and supports the key priorities outlined within the Coalition Government’s vision/programme of a Big Society; giving communities more power and encouraging people to take an active role in their communities.