Bracknell Forest Council
Record of Decision
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Work Programme Reference
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I100787 |
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1. |
TITLE: |
Lateral Flow - Contract Matters
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2. |
SERVICE AREA: |
Resources
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3. |
PURPOSE OF DECISION
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To agree the proposed, spend for the continuation for the of the Lateral Flow Test project and if appropriate procurement of goods and services.
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IS KEY DECISION |
Yes
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5. |
DECISION MADE BY: |
Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing
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6. |
DECISION:
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1 That the proposed spend of £1.35 million (including a contingency of 20%) for the next phase of the Lateral Flow Test project be approved.
2 That a further Contract Standing Order waiver be approved in order to continue delivering community lateral flow testing in Bracknell Forest.
3 That the current contractual arrangements with Solutions 4 Health be extended from 29 July 2021 until 31 March 2022.
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7. |
REASON FOR DECISION
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The Government has recently indicated that local authorities will be expected to continue providing a Lateral Flow Testing programme until March 2022. Due to the expanse of the current programme over recent months, forecasted expenditure has already been exceeded and therefore a 20% contingency has again been included for the next phase of the programme. All expenditure is currently reimbursed under a Covid funding scheme.
Local authorities were required to set up community testing with very limited notice and therefore the previous contract was awarded under an emergency procedure and approved by the Executive on 26 January 2021 to cover expenditure up to £1.7m across a number of providers including £950,000 for lateral flow testing specifically. A waiver supported the decision to make a direct award and covered a six-month period – from 28 January 2021 to 28 July 2021. A further waiver and Executive and Executive Member approval is therefore required in order to continue with this arrangement until March 2022 up to a combined contract value of £3.057million.
The current contract terms are advantageous as they allow the Council to terminate with 1 weeks’ notice and no additional financial penalties. This is critical due to the fast-changing nature of the programme and general direction provided by central government. The local authority has also established strong working relationships with the provider and therefore it would be challenging at this stage to look to appoint a different provider and sustain the same level of service delivery.
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8. |
ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED
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Without this approval, the authority would be unable to meet its obligation to deliver a community lateral flow testing programme. A full procurement exercise, including advertising, and potential development of a new supplier would create unacceptable time delays in delivering this ever-evolving programme.
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9. |
DOCUMENT CONSIDERED: |
Report of the Chief Executive
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10. |
DECLARED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: |
None.
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Date Decision Made |
Final Day of Call-in Period |
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20 July 2021 |
27 July 2021 |
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