Paper No.14-253 - Wandsworth Borough Council

PAPER NO.
14-253
WANDSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL
FINANCE AND CORPORATE RESOURCES OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY
COMMITTEE – 23RD APRIL 2014
EXECUTIVE – 28TH APRIL 2014
Joint report by the Executive Chief Officer for Housing and the Head of IT and
Business Communications on the letting of a concession contract to allow high
speed broadband to be installed in Council-owned residential properties
SUMMARY
In November 2012, with the prior support of the Housing Overview and
Scrutiny Committee, the Executive agreed (Paper No. 12-708) to the
letting of a concession for the installation of high speed broadband into
Council-owned residential properties. The Council’s aspiration was to let
a contract at no cost with some level of free service offered to all
residents.
This report seeks approval to enter into a concession contract with
Community Fibre Ltd for the installation of high speed broadband into
Council-owned residential properties within purpose built blocks of flats.
The Director of Finance comments that the service offered by the
recommended bidder is free of charge to the Council and will provide a
guaranteed revenue stream of £50,000 per annum to the HRA once
installation is complete and for the duration of the contract, which will be
accounted for in a future review of the HRA Business Plan.
GLOSSARY
BBC
HRA
OSC
PQQ
-
British Broadcasting Corporation
Housing Revenue Account
Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Pre-qualification questionnaire
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
The Finance and Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee are
recommended to support the recommendations in paragraph 2. If they
approve any views, comments or recommendations on the report, these will
be submitted to the Executive for their consideration.
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2.
The Executive is recommended:
(a)
to approve the award of a concession contract to Community Fibre Ltd
for the installation of high speed broadband into council-owned
residential properties within purpose built blocks of flats for a period of
seven years; and
(b)
to note that the contract will provide a guaranteed revenue income
stream to the HRA once installation is complete, which will be
accounted for in a future review of the Business Plan.
INTRODUCTION
3.
In November 2012, with the prior support of the Housing Overview and
Scrutiny Committee, the Executive agreed (Paper No. 12-708) to the letting of
a concession for the installation of high speed broadband into Council-owned
residential properties. The Council’s aspiration was to let a contract at no
cost with some level of free service offered to all residents.
4.
Subsequently, a project team consisting of officers from the Finance
Department’s IT and Business Communications Division and Central
Procurement Team and the Housing Department conducted extensive soft
market testing to establish how best the contract could be offered to the
market within the relevant legal framework. A public notice calling for
expressions of interest from suppliers was published in December 2012 on
the Council’s website, the noticeboard of the Council’s on-line tendering
system and the Contracts Finder website which is a national public contracts
noticeboard advocated by the Cabinet Office as the single on-line resource for
advertising public contract opportunities, and a subsequent ‘meet the buyer’
session was held. A copy of the Notice is set out in the Appendix to this
report. Due to the potential threat of legal challenge from bigger providers in
the market under State aid legislation, the project team consulted with the
Council’s external solicitors, Sharpe Pritchard, to develop a suitable
specification and contract.
PROCUREMENT PROCESS
5.
A competitive contract notice was placed in the locations outlined above on
6th August 2013. The procurement route followed the competitive dialogue
procedure whereby tenderers submitted a detailed proposal, engaged in
dialogue sessions with the Council and then submitted a final tender based on
this.
6.
Two suppliers submitted PQQs and were taken through to tender. Both of
these submitted final tenders by the deadline of 3rd April 2014. Both
tenderers proposed to install the high speed broadband connections in
Council managed residential dwellings in purpose built blocks in the Borough.
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TENDER RESULTS
Bidder 1
7.
The tender submitted by this bidder contained two options for consideration:
(a)
Option 1 was at no cost to the Council and would offer residents three
broadband speeds to choose from at varying prices. This would only
be installed in blocks of more than 79 dwellings. No free service would
be offered to residents and buildings below 79 dwellings would not
have internet access installed.
(b)
Option 2 involved a monthly charge to the Council of between £9.56
per dwelling per month and £11.41 per dwelling per month depending
on block size for blocks with a minimum of 40 dwellings. This would
provide all residents with unrestricted internet access at no cost to
them. For blocks below this size no internet would be installed.
Bidder 2 - Community Fibre Ltd.
8.
Community Fibre Ltd. offered broadband connections into all the Council’s
residential dwellings within purpose built blocks of flats. They also offered a
concession fee of £50,000 per year once the installation period of two years is
concluded. Furthermore, each resident would receive a set top box to
connect to their television which would provide free to air television channels
and a free of charge ‘walled garden’ internet service. This ‘walled garden’
service would provide access to the Council’s websites, allowing residents to
transact with the Council online. It would also include a news feed from the
BBC, a notice board for the Council to post notices to residents.
9.
Residents would also be able to upgrade to receive Sky and telephone
services over the broadband circuit.
PROPOSAL
10.
It is proposed that the concession contract be awarded to Bidder 2 Community Fibre Ltd.
TIMETABLE
11.
An indicative timetable for the installation of the service into all of the
Council’s residential properties is:
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Milestone
Date
Report to Finance and Corporate
Resources OSC:
23rd April 2014
Acceptance by the Executive of bid:
28th April 2014
Contract signature:
End of May 2014
Pilot installation project begins:
July/August 2014
Pilot installation complete – first dwellings
are ‘switched on’:
October 2014
Installation of high speed broadband
connectivity to all Wandsworth Councilowned residential properties completed by:
August 2016
COMMENTS OF THE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
12.
The Director of Finance comments that the proposal offered by the
recommended bidder is free of charge to the Council and will provide a
guaranteed revenue stream to the Housing Revenue Account of £50,000 per
annum once installation is complete and for the remainder of the contract. As
the project progresses this will be accounted for in a future review of the HRA
Business Plan.
__________________
The Town Hall,
Wandsworth,
SW18 2PU.
11th April 2014
BRIAN REILLY
Executive Chief Officer for Housing
DAVID TIDEY
Head of IT and Business
Communications
Background Papers
There are no background papers to this report.
All reports to Overview and Scrutiny Committees, regulatory and other committees,
the Executive and the full Council can be viewed on the Council’s website
(www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov) unless the report was published before May
2001, in which case the Committee Secretary (Graham Collins – 020 8871 6021;
email [email protected]) can supply it if required.
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APPENDIX
to Paper No. 14-253
WANDSWORTH BOROUGH COUNCIL
Administration and Housing Departments
Concession Contract for Improving Access to Broadband in Council Owned
Housing
Wandsworth Borough Council is seeking expressions of interest from suitable
experienced and competent suppliers for a concession contract with the aim of
improving the provision of Broadband in the Council’s housing stock. This is
predominantly aimed at the social housing dwellings contained in various council
owned multi dwelling units.
The key aspiration is for all of the Council’s residents to be connected and be able to
access the Council’s online services and wider Government online services.
It is envisaged that the Council will let a concession contract to the chosen
Concessionaire that will allow the Council to realise their requirements and for the
Concessionaire to be able to recoup their costs within a documented business model
that would align with the Council’s expected benefits. The Council proposes to allow
the broadband internet partner (the “Operator”) non-exclusive access to the Councilowned properties to build a structure to allow high speed broadband to all Council
tenants.
It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded in early 2014 and will last for a
period of five years with the option to extend for up to a further two years subject to
mutual agreement.
Expressing an interest
To express an interest in the opportunity, suppliers must submit a Pre-Qualification
Questionnaire (“PQQ”) which is available at www.supply4london.gov.uk.
Suppliers must register on this site to respond, although those already registered will
not need to register again and will be able to use their existing username and
password. Please note there is a password reminder link on the homepage.
Suppliers must log in, go to Response Manager and add the following Access Code:
23JK2N5Z58. Suppliers should then follow the on screen instructions.
The Supply4London Helpdesk can be contacted by emailing
[email protected] in case of technical difficulties.
Completing the pre-qualification questionnaire
Completed PQQs, along with any supporting documentation must be submitted
through the portal by 06 September 2013
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Details of the selection criteria for inclusion within the tender list are provided within
the PQQ.
Suppliers are advised that references will be obtained in writing from two referees. It
is the supplier’s responsibility to ensure that their referees respond within the time
scale.
Invitations to dialogue
The process will follow a competitive dialogue-type procedure. It is intended to
restrict the number of suppliers invited to dialogue to a maximum of four. If more
than four suppliers fulfil the criteria for selection, those scoring the highest number of
points on the selection criteria will be invited to dialogue.
The award of the contract will be based on the most economically advantageous
tender. Further information on the process can be found in the PQQ supporting
documentation.
If you have any questions with regards to this opportunity, please use the message
facility available via the Supply4London portal.
Town Hall
Wandsworth
London
SW18 2PU
Paul Martin
Chief Executive and
Director of Administration
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