Agenda item

To consider any decisions made by the Cabinet at its last meeting that have been called-in.

The decision of the Cabinet made on Thursday 10^th May 2018 with regard to Crediton Office has been called in by the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee and will be discussed at agenda item 15.

The Chairman informed the Committee that he had called in a decision made by the Cabinet at its meeting on 10^th May 2018 (with regard to the Crediton Office) for consideration by the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.  This item would be discussed at agenda item 15.

The Chairman also informed the Committee that Cllrs: R M Deed, F W Letch, Mrs J Roach, T W Snow and Mrs N Woollatt had called in a decision made by the Cabinet at its meeting on 10^th May 2018 (with regard to the kitchen supply contract 2018-2022) for consideration by the Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Council’s Constitution for the following reasons:

To consider:

·          the framework process and how it has been applied to this particular procurement; and

·         the reasons behind Mid Devon’s Service Level Criteria and how they have been applied to the suppliers on the Framework;

·         the conclusion that Suppliers A and B did not meet Mid Devon’s Service Level Criteria

The Director of Operations stated that procurement exercises were compliant with the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU).  He explained the process that had taken place with regard to the supply of kitchens explaining the specification required, which involved cost per kitchen, the delivery of supplies including parts and timings for delivery, all this data was then fed into a Cirrus Kitchen Materials Supply Framework and businesses had been invited to tender.  He highlighted the importance of the specification and that supplies would have to be available when required.  There were two stages to the process, stage one was completed by Cirrus and stage two had been carried out by the Procurement Service, the latter process involved selecting the highest ranked supplier and discounting them if they had not met the Mid Devon District Council service level criteria.  He stated that Supplier A and B had been discounted as they had not met the absolute criteria set.  He added that in hindsight adding the words “in order to meet the absolute criteria” at paragraph 5 to the report after “Suppliers A and B were discounted as they could not provide a local depot” may have provided a better description of the reason for being discounted from the selection process.  In terms of absolute criteria, the time criteria chosen was minded to the  turnaround time  for works associated with voids; the intent being to minimise the time in-between tenancies; with an already demanding target of 16 days having been reduced to 14 days for the current year.

Discussion took place regarding

·         The specific criteria and how points were awarded

·         The process of excluding some companies as they did not meet the criteria

·         The reasons for suppliers to be discounted

·         Whether the decision of the cabinet had been based on incorrect information

At this point as Members wanted to discuss specific issues with regard to the suppliers therefore it was agreed that the matter be discussed in closed session and therefore it was:

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the next item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, namely information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

(Proposed by the Chairman)

Returning to open session it was

RESOLVED that the decision of the Cabinet be accepted.

(Proposed by the Chairman)

Notes: 

i)             Report * previously circulated and attached to Minutes.

ii)            Cllr Mrs J Roach requested that her vote against the decision be recorded

iii)       Cllr Mrs J Roach left the meeting at the conclusion of the debate on this   matter.