Department of Corporate and Community Services
Deputy Chief Executive: Caroline Innes BSc (Hons)
Council Headquarters, Eastwood Park, Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, G46 6UG Phone: 0141 577 3000 Fax: 0141 577 3834
website: www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Date: 27 August 2021
When calling please ask for: Sharon McIntyre (Tel. No 0141-577-3011)
e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TO: Councillors T Buchanan (Chair); C Bamforth; B Cunningham; D Devlin; A Lafferty (Vice Chair); and C Merrick.

CABINET
A meeting of the Cabinet will be held on

Thursday, 9 September 2021 at 10.00am.

The agenda of business is as shown below.

Please note this is a virtual meeting.

Caroline Innes
C INNES
DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE

AGENDA
1. Report apologies for absence.
2. Declarations of Interest.

3. Kitchen Supply Contract – Proposed Variation – Report by Director of
Environment (copy attached, pages 3 - 6).

You can read details on Council Website here -

www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/cabinet-090921

EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL
CABINET
9 SEPTEMBER 2021

Report by Director of Environment

KITCHEN SUPPLY CONTRACT – PROPOSED VARIATION

PURPOSE OF REPORT

1. The purpose of this report is to seek Cabinet approval to apply a variation to the current kitchen supply contract to include installation as permitted under contract.

RECOMMENDATIONS

2. It is recommended that the Cabinet, in accordance with the Contract Standing Order 14:

• approve a variation of £895,950 to be applied to the existing kitchen supply contract with City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI)

BACKGROUND AND REPORT

3. East Renfrewshire Council previously procured a contract for the Survey and Supply of Kitchens under Scottish Government Framework - Commodities Reserved for Supported Businesses - Contract Reference – SP-18-11- Lot 1.

This was awarded to City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBi) on 2 November 2020 and is valid until 2 November 2025.

4. It should be noted that the current contract with City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBi) is to manufacture and supply kitchens only and although installation is included in the remit of the Scottish Government Framework this was not included in final contract award as this was historically carried out internally by the Housing Maintenance Team.

5. Unfortunately due to the backlog of works caused by COVID-19, it is now considered more efficient to include installation in the current contract which ensures contractor ownership for supply and install services and allows Housing Services to concentrate on the delivery of other key work packages.

There remains ample work for the current workforce to undertake and as such this proposal poses no concerns for the long-term future of the current workforce.

6. A review of the option to vary the existing supply contract to include the install as permitted under the Framework has been undertaken, and both Procurement and Technical Services regard this as the best option.

7. There is no risk of procurement challenge from varying this contract, as City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI) is the only supplier on the Framework that can supply and install kitchens.

8. A rate to install the kitchens has been directly negotiated and this is a cost effective solution that delivers best value. Based on historic cost, from both in-house maintenance team and a recent quick quote on kitchen installations;

the average cost of kitchen installation is about £3,300.

Following direct negotiation of rates and requirements for kitchen installation with the supplier – City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI), the average indicative cost per kitchen installation will be £2,715 under this new contract and this will provide savings of approximately £585 per kitchen on average.

9. In addition to cost savings, the following are justification for this route rather than tendering a separate contract:

• Every contract comes with preliminary costs which are directly related to running of the project.

This cost is a percentage of the contract cost and for this type of
contract, the prelims cost could be in the region of 10 to 15% of the installation cost.

This means going out to tender for a separate contract will result in
increased spend due to two suppliers having separate prelims and associated
risk.

• There is a risk that there would be disputes between the company surveying
property and those installing the kitchens, and the difficulty to resolve these could likely lead to the Council picking up costs; dealing with disruption to tenants and increased resource required to manage these internally.

• Any delay in supply would affect installation programmes and this could
potentially lead to claims for cost. Currently the market is experiencing high levels of supply disruption making this highly likely.

• Varying the contract to have one contractor for both supply and install will provide a single point of contact for tenants, which provides better customer services.

• Allows us to deliver better community benefits

10. It is also important to note that the current provider is a supported business and the increased spend would support this business with its work to integrate disabled or disadvantaged people socially and professionally.

11. All of the above have been reviewed by the procurement team and there is no risk of procurement challenge from varying this contract.

To ensure compliance with the Public Contract Scotland Regulation, a modified award notice will be published.

FINANCE AND EFFICIENCY

12. Significant work has been undertaken to ensure this delivers an effective solution that provides best value.

13. The effect of this variation will allow Housing Services to accelerate their work in bringing homes up to a good standard of repair in respect of the capital programme that has been delayed due to Covid-19.

CONSULTATION

14. Procurement and Technical Services have been consulted on this report.

15. Legal services were consulted on the use of Contract Standing Order 14 for this contract.

PARTNERSHIP WORKING

16. In order to ensure the capital programme is efficient and delivers value for money, a partnership approach is in place with colleagues from Procurement and Property & Technical Services.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSALS

17. This proposal will create opportunity for cost savings which will be used to see additional homes added to the programme.

18. The continued use of the provider means there is one contractor for both supply and install.

This will provide a single point of contact for tenants, which provides better customer services.

19. There are no legal, equalities or IT implications.

CONCLUSIONS

20. The variation being sought to the current supply contract has been identified and selected to ensure that Housing Services are able to meet their proposed kitchen installation target that has been delayed for over 15 months.

Also, continued investment will be welcomed by Council tenants who will see the quality of their homes continue to be improved.

RECOMMENDATIONS

21. It is recommended that the Cabinet, in accordance with the Contract Standing Order 14:

• approve a variation of £895,950 to be applied to the existing kitchen supply contract with City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI)

Director of Environment

Further details can be obtained from Phil Daws Head of Environment (Strategic Services) on 0141 577 3186.

Convener contact details
Councillor Danny Devlin
(Convener for Housing and Maintenance Services)
Home: 0141 580 0288
Office: 0141 577 3107/8

September 2021

You can view meeting from Council website here -

www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/cabinet-090921

Meeting Recording

The recording of this meeting can be viewed on the Council's YouTube Channel


All the information/reasons/justifications in Paras 7, 8, 9(all points), 10, 13, 17, 18 and 20 in the report are not new and indeed these would all have been known when the contract was awarded to City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBi) on 2 November 2020.


It is therefore difficult to understand that they all hold greater sway and importance now than when the contract was initially awarded and indeed, The Chair Cllr Tony Buchanan did ask(2:25)

'The question would be why we hadn't done it previously...........'

during the Cabinet meeting, but was given no answer.

13/09/2021

To: East Renfrewshire Council

Freedom of Information(FOI) request.

This FOI Request specifically concerns the Report by Director of Environment , to seek the Cabinet’s approval for a variation of £895,950 to be applied to the existing kitchen supply contract with City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI), Agenda Item 3, East Renfrewshire Council Cabinet meeting 9 September 2021.

The Scottish Information Commissioner has written -

'The duty to advise and assist

Under FOI law, authorities have a duty to advise and assist people who want to access their information. The duty to advise and assist makes sure that customer service and customer engagement are central to FOI practice.

Taking a positive and proactive approach to the duty to advise and assist will strengthen relations with service users and help build trust. Offering help, support and guidance to people looking for information will also reduce the likelihood of more FOI requests.

Legal requirement
The FOI Act requires authorities to provide reasonable advice and assistance to people who have made, or are planning to make, a request for information (section 15).

The EIRs contain a similar provision for requests for environmental information (regulation 9).

Both the FOI Act and the EIRs say that authorities which comply with the Scottish Ministers' FOI Code of Practice when providing advice and assistance are complying with the duty under FOI law.'


Unfortunately the Report provides no appendices or attached documentation/reports to support the report and provides little evidence to support the claims/justifications/conclusions made in the report.

All the information/reasons/justifications in Paras 7, 8, 9(all points), 10, 13, 17, 18 and 20 in the report are not new and these would all have been known when the contract was awarded to City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBi) on 2 November 2020.

It is therefore difficult to understand that they all hold greater sway and importance now than when the contract was initially awarded and indeed, The Chair Cllr Tony Buchanan did ask '

The question would be why we hadn't done it previously...........'

during the Cabinet meeting, but was given no answer.

Please provide all numbers/figures/information/reports/documents/emails/notes referenced by and relating to this report regarding the variation of £895,950 to be applied to the existing kitchen supply contract with City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI).


In particular

Please provide all numbers/figures/information/reports/documents/emails/notes regarding

- the timescale for City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI) to undertake and complete these kitchen installations.

- Start date(s)/end date(s)
- Number of kitchen installations to be undertaken
- the backlog of work in Housing Services
- the other key work packages to be delivered by Housing Services
- the remaining ample work for the current(Housing Services) workforce to undertake
- The effect of bringing in-house the Mixed Tenure Scheme (to be managed and located within Housing Services) on Housing Services regarding the above backlog etc

and on the continuation of delivering Housing Services work

- the total numbers of staff within Housing Services
- the total number of Maintenance staff
- the total number of staff that were required for this kitchen installation work to be undertaken.
- the total numbers of staff required within Housing Services for the Mixed Tenure Scheme to be satisfactorily provided.

All information/reports/documents/emails/notes regarding this review -

'A review of the option to vary the existing supply contract to include the install as permitted under the Framework has been undertaken, and both Procurement and Technical Services regard this as the best option.'

The actual numbers/figures used to calculate the £3,300 average cost of kitchen installation

The actual numbers/figures used to calculate the £2,715 average indicative cost per kitchen installation

The Number of actual kitchen installations to be undertaken by City Building (Glasgow) LLP (RSBI)

The Reports/Documents/emails referred to/referenced/used to support each point for these justifications -

'In addition to cost savings, the following are justification for this route rather than tendering a separate contract:

• Every contract comes with preliminary costs which are directly related to running of the project. This cost is a percentage of the contract cost and for this type of contract, the prelims cost could be in the region of 10 to 15% of the installation cost. This means going out to tender for a separate contract will result in increased spend due to two suppliers having separate prelims and associated risk.

• There is a risk that there would be disputes between the company surveying property and those installing the kitchens, and the difficulty to resolve these could likely lead to the Council picking up costs; dealing with disruption to tenants and increased resource required to manage these internally.

• Any delay in supply would affect installation programmes and this could potentially lead to claims for cost. Currently the market is experiencing high levels of supply disruption making this highly likely.

• Varying the contract to have one contractor for both supply and install will provide a single point of contact for tenants, which provides better customer services.

• Allows us to deliver better community benefits '


The actual figure of this 'increased spend'
and
Details/documentation of how this 'increased spend' will actually help this support -

'It is also important to note that the current provider is a supported business and the increased spend would support this business with its work to integrate disabled or disadvantaged people socially and professionally.'

Please provide this review -

'All of the above have been reviewed by the procurement team and there is no risk of procurement challenge from varying this contract. To ensure compliance with the Public Contract Scotland Regulation, a modified award notice will be published.'

Any information/reports/documents/emails/notes not previously provided above regarding this 'Significant work' -

'Significant work has been undertaken to ensure this delivers an effective solution that provides best value. '

All information/reports/documents/emails/notes used to justify this statement regarding the 'effect' -

'The effect of this variation will allow Housing Services to accelerate their work in bringing homes up to a good standard of repair in respect of the capital programme that has been delayed due to Covid-19.'


The actual numbers/figures of the cost savings - information/reports/documents/emails/notes used to calculate the cost savings and number of additional homes added due to this 'cost saving'


''9. In addition to cost savings,...................'
'17. This proposal will create opportunity for cost savings which will be used to see additional homes added to the programme. ''


Electronic response/copies are acceptable.


Your help is appreciated.

Thanks

24/1/2022

Published Barrhead News On Line -

News

23rd January

East Renfrewshire: Deal for new kitchens provides job security

By Gillian McPherson Reporter

£1MILLION deal to upgrade East Renfrewshire Council’s social housing stock will secure employment for more than 150 staff with a disability or learning difference.

Around 350 properties across the local area will also benefit from new kitchens as a result.

Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries (RSBi), City Building’s manufacturing division, has been handed a £500,000 contract to supply the kitchens.

A separate contract to fit them, also worth £500,000, has been awarded to City Building’s construction division.

Work will take place over the next four years, helping to improve living conditions for hundreds of council tenants.

Councillor Danny Devlin, East Renfrewshire’s housing and maintenance convener, told the Barrhead News: “We are pleased to continue our work with City Building on this exciting project.

“We are committed to providing high-quality, safe homes for our tenants and these kitchen upgrades will further improve our housing stock.
“We look forward to the work getting underway in this new year and beyond.”

Based in a specially-adapted factory in the Springburn area of Glasgow, more than half of RSBi’s 250 staff have a disability.

The workforce includes people with sight and hearing loss, wheelchair users, veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and others who have additional learning needs.

The business designs and crafts products such as kitchens, bathrooms, office furniture and timber kits for new homes.

It also supplies goods and services to organisations such as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Scottish Enterprise.

Ben Kerr, RSBi manager, said: “We are extremely proud of our new contract with East Renfrewshire Council, which we achieved with the support of the Scottish Government’s Supported Businesses Framework.

“RSBi provides employment for many people who might otherwise struggle to get work and ensures they have an opportunity to contribute their skills to society but we are so much more.

“We have found exciting ways to enable people of all abilities to work together as makers, innovators and craftspeople.

“Buyers come to us for our high standards and quality products, not just because some of our staff are disabled.”