Decision details

The Cabinet Member for Resources presented report PAT/029of the Head of People and Technologywhich sought Cabinet delegated authority approval for the Council to undertake the award of a contract following a joint tender process with Horsham District Council and Mid Sussex District Council for the renewal of the Council’s Multi-Functional Device (MFD) contract. It was noted that the contract will also provide the Council with further opportunity to call off additional Services covered under the Managed Print Services Contract at any time during the term of the contract.

In response to a question raised during the Cabinet’s consideration, the Cabinet Member for Resources confirmed that the decision as to whether the Council would be either leasing, purchasing the MFD’s machines or a combination of both, had not been decided currently. He explained that all options were open and the approach taken would be guided by the result of the procurement process, and what was in the best interest of the Council.

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet notes the arrangements for the tender process and approve:

1)            Granting delegated authority to the Head of People and Technology in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Resources to approve the award of the contract following the tender award process.

2)            Authorise officers to consider using any of the additional managed print services available under this contract.

Reasons for the Recommendations

The Council’s first MFD contract commenced in 2010 following a full procurement exercise and had an expiry date of 2015. This has been renewed on an annual basis until the summer of 2017, whilst the requirements of the town hall redevelopment have been under review. The proposals for the new town hall are now at a stage where it is possible to specify the requirements for a new contract. Currently there is no formal MFD contract, but management arrangements have been extended until a new contract can be procured.

The current MFD fleet is 7 years old and is working beyond its life expectancy. In addition to this the limited functionality of the machines doesn’t provide a fast and effective scanning process. This is now a key requirement as many services are moving to the council’s system for electronic storage of records (EIM) in preparation for the move to a new town hall.

There is an opportunity to procure a new contract for this service and replace the existing fleet with new devices. Horsham District Council and Mid-Sussex District Council have similar contracts that have expired or are due to expire within the next 12 months. As the Councils contracts are reasonably well aligned, it was suggested that the three Councils undertake a joint procurement exercise for this requirement.