Decision details

Decision required to award framework agreements and call off contracts to various legal firms for the provision of external Legal Services.

RESOLVED:

That Surrey County Council award the external legal services framework for 3 years, plus a 3 year optional extension period (total 6 year term) and any respective call off contracts, in conjunction with the Orbis Public Law authorities.

Reason for decision:

The Council had a framework agreement in place for the provision of external legal services (Surrey Provision of External Legal Services (SPELS) Framework), which was due to expire on 28 February 2019.

The new framework agreement brought together the requirements of the OPL authorities and Surrey and Sussex District and Borough Councils. The potential value of spend across all the authorities (approximately £60m) meant that the tender offered an attractive opportunity for the market and greater economies of scale.

The framework agreement would enable the OPL authorities to:

     a.          cover the provision of external legal services advice and support across Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex and the city of Brighton & Hove;

     b.          ensure an up to date specification that meets OPL’s requirements;

     c.          deliver a cost effective service and enable instructions to be issued to external legal providers much faster than if no framework existed;

     d.          obtain up to date competitive rates;

     e.          achieve savings through efficiencies and monitoring usage more closely;

      f.          offer OPL staff more flexibility and access to a wider range of specialist expertise.

The new framework agreement had been procured through a full tender procedure with a thorough evaluation process, which had identified that to award framework agreement and call off contracts to a number of providers would provide Surrey County Council with the best value for money.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Corporate Overview Select Committee]