Agenda item

1.     That Surrey County Council commits to the energy purchasing contracts through the LASER Flexible Framework for the provision of electricity and gas supplies to commence on 1October 2016 and to run until September 2020 on a rolling 2 year basis for the energy requirements of the council and in respect of participating schools following the receipt of appropriate warranties.

2.     That SCC adopts, as part of the LASER framework, a mixed basket of Purchase in Advance (PIA), Purchase within Period (PWP), Fully Managed Service, Procurement Only Service and other purchase options as may be deemed suitable to manage energy price risk as appropriate to the needs of the end users and the nature of the energy supply.

3.     That authority be delegated to the Head of Procurement and Commissioning and Chief Property Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Business Services totake necessary procurement decisions and award new contracts from 1 October 2016 to September 2020 on a rolling two year basis through the framework agreement for the supply of electricity and gas under a flexible procurement.

4.     That SCC makes use of the added value services available from framework suppliers to LASER customers, such as data collection from automated meters, where it is cost effective to do so.

Reasons for Decisions:

A compliant Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) tender process has recently been completed by LASER, resulting in 2 new contracts being awarded for Electricity and Gas supplies, permitting access by other public sector organisations from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2020. The suppliers on the framework are Npower for electricity and Total Gas & Power Ltd for gas. Using the LASER framework for 2016-2020 will provide continuity for sites and best value for money for the council following a thorough options appraisal. A rolling two year commitment is preferred to a four year commitment as it affords the council more flexibility.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

Approval from Cabinet was sought to commit to flexible energy purchasing contracts through the LASER (Local Authorities in South East Region) framework for the provision of electricity and gas supplies on a rolling two year basis, to commence on 1 October 2016. The report provided details of the procurement process, including the results of the options appraisal, and demonstrated why the recommended contract award would deliver best value for money.

The Cabinet Member for Business Services said that the suppliers on the LASER framework were Npower for electricity and Total Gas & Power Ltd for gas. Several options had been considered in the process and option 6 – to procure via Central Purchasing Bodies had been selected.

She also drew Cabinet’s attention to the fact that the Council had procured electricity and gas through LASER since 2009 and that over the last four years, £2.7m savings had been achieved.

Finally, she said that this was a flexible framework for the provision of electricity and gas supplies and that efficiency savings of £0.8m had been built into the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2015/16.

The Leader of the Council requested that this contract was scrutinised, on an annual basis, by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:

1.     That Surrey County Council commits to the energy purchasing contracts through the LASER Flexible Framework for the provision of electricity and gas supplies to commence on 1October 2016 and to run until September 2020 on a rolling 2 year basis for the energy requirements of the council and in respect of participating schools following the receipt of appropriate warranties.

2.     That SCC adopts, as part of the LASER framework, a mixed basket of Purchase in Advance (PIA), Purchase within Period (PWP), Fully Managed Service, Procurement Only Service and other purchase options as may be deemed suitable to manage energy price risk as appropriate to the needs of the end users and the nature of the energy supply.

3.     That authority be delegated to the Head of Procurement and Commissioning and Chief Property Officer, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Business Services totake necessary procurement decisions and award new contracts from 1 October 2016 to September 2020 on a rolling two year basis through the framework agreement for the supply of electricity and gas under a flexible procurement.

4.     That SCC makes use of the added value services available from framework suppliers to LASER customers, such as data collection from automated meters, where it is cost effective to do so.

Reasons for Decisions:

A compliant Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) tender process has recently been completed by LASER, resulting in 2 new contracts being awarded for Electricity and Gas supplies, permitting access by other public sector organisations from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2020. The suppliers on the framework are Npower for electricity and Total Gas & Power Ltd for gas. Using the LASER framework for 2016-2020 will provide continuity for sites and best value for money for the council following a thorough options appraisal. A rolling two year commitment is preferred to a four year commitment as it affords the council more flexibility.