Agenda item

To receive presentations from the two successful bidders, note the signing of the Mid Kent and West Kent contracts, and the ongoing discussions with the new preferred bidder for East Kent. To consider and endorse the suggested timescales for future biannual briefing papers and presentations and note the existing contract governance in place to monitor the performance of the Total Facilities Management Contracts.

(1)       Mr Cooke (Cabinet Member for Corporate and Democratic Services) and Rebecca Spore (Director of Property and Infrastructure Support) introduced the report which provided an update on the implementation of a Total Facilities (TFM) solution following the signing of the Mid Kent contract with Amey and the West Kent contract with Skanska.  The report also advised the Sub-Committee about the withdrawal of Interserve, the preferred bidder for East Kent, and the appointment of Kier as the new preferred bidder.  To ensure Members had continuing oversight of the performance of the contracts the report suggested that a biannual review of performance be undertaken by the Property Sub-Committee in accordance with the commissioning principles set out in the Facing the Challenge paper considered by the County Council on 15 May 2014.

(2)       Jon Chown gave a presentation outlining Skanska’s approach to the contract, the personnel involved, the scope of the contract, the services that would be provided, how KPIs would be delivered and monitored, the structure and values of Skanska, and how it planned to interact with local small and medium enterprises.

(3)       In response to questions he said that some elements of the contract would be sub-let but Skanska would remain as the single point of contact; the employment terms and conditions of existing staff would be honoured under TUPE arrangements; and zero hour contracts would be avoided as far as possible.  He also said he expected about 30% of the contract value to be supplied by local business.

(4)       It was confirmed that services to schools, with the exception of tree surveys, were not included within the scope of the initial services to be provided in the contract but that if they were at a future point, Skanska would work with schools to implement security arrangements at the design stage and by providing advice on existing arrangements particularly in relation to cameras, fencing and sight lines, if appropriate.

(5)       Martin Channon, George Thomson and Mark Billington gave a presentation outlining Amey’s approach to the contract, the timeline for mobilising the contract, the current position, deliverables and outputs, information about Amey including its structure and values and its safety campaign – “Target Zero”.

(6)       In response to questions, Mr Channon said that: about 30% (£1.5m) of the contract would be subcontracted; the use of agency staff would be kept to a minimum but may be necessary at peak times; and it was intended to support local small and medium enterprise to deliver parts of the contract.

(7)       Ms Spore explained the competitive dialogue process that lead to the appointment of Kier as the preferred bidder for East Kent following the withdrawal of Interserve.  She confirmed that: the contracts included an explicit contract management regime; the companies would attend regular meetings with Members; and information about social value could be included in reports on performance.

(8)       The commissioning of facilities management services and the fact that there was more than one contract was welcomed particularly as it would result in better performance at a lower cost and there were clear mechanisms for managing performance and holding the suppliers to account.

(9)       Resolved:

(a)       That the signing of the Mid Kent and West Kent contracts and the ongoing discussions with the new preferred bidder for East Kent be noted;

(b)       The timescale for the future biannual performance review, briefing papers and presentations starting in March 2015 be endorsed;

(c)        The existing contract governance for monitoring the performance of the Total Facilities Management Contracts be noted.