DELEGATED POWERS REPORT NO.

1759

SUBJECT: Library stock supply contracts Control sheet All of the following actions MUST be completed at each stage of the process and the signed and dated report MUST be passed to Governance Service for publishing All reports 1. Governance Service receive draft report

Name of GSO

Paul Frost

Date

26 July 2012

Name of GSO

Maria Lugangira

Date

31 July 2012

Name of Fin. officer

Stephen Reimer

Date

24 August 2012

Name of Res. officer

Veronica McCarroll

Date

23 August 2012

Name of Strategic Procurement officer

Lesley Meeks

Date

4 September 2012

Legal clearance obtained from (report author to complete)

Name of Legal officer

Sheila Saunders

Date

09 November 2012

Policy & Partnerships clearance obtained (report author to complete)

Name of P&P officer

Andrew Nathan

Date

26 July 2012

Name of officer

Andrew Nathan

Date

26 July 2012

Name

Bill Murphy

Date

27 July 2012

Name of GO

Maria Lugangira

Date

19 November 2012

Name of GO

Maria Lugangira

Date

23 November 2012

Name of GO

Maria Lugangira

Date

23 November 2012

Date Name of GO Date

N/A

2. Governance Service cleared draft report as being constitutionally appropriate 3. Finance clearance obtained (report author to complete) 4.

Staff and other resources issues clearance obtained (report author to complete)

5. Strategic Procurement clearance (report author to complete) 6.

7.

8.

9.

Equalities & Diversity clearance (report author to complete)

obtained

obtained

The above process has been checked and verified by Director, Head of Service or Deputy (report author to complete)

10. Signed & dated report, scanned or hard copy received by Governance Service for publishing 11. Report published by Governance Service to website Officer reports: 12. Head of Service informed report is published and can be implemented. Cabinet Member reports: 13. Expiry of call-in period 14. Report circulated for call-in purposes to Business Management Overview &Scrutiny Committee members & copied to Cabinet & Head of Service

ACTION TAKEN UNDER DELEGATED POWERS BY OFFICER (COUNCIL FUNCTION)

Subject

Stock supply contracts for Barnet Libraries

Officer(s) taking decision

Assistant Chief Executive

Date of decision

19 November 2012

Summary

This report records the decision of the Assistant Chief Executive and the Assistant Director Customer Services and Libraries to: a) Continue to use the CBC framework contract for the supply of library materials b) Use a selection of single source suppliers for specialist resources

Officer Contributors

Hannah Richens (Divisional Manager, Libraries)

Status (public or exempt)

Public

Wards affected

All

Enclosures

None

Assistant Director Customer Services and Libraries

Contact for further information: Hannah Richens (Divisional Manager: Children and Young People) 020 8359 7779, [email protected]

Serial No. 1759

1.

RELEVANT PREVIOUS DECISIONS

1.1

Cabinet Resources Committee – 18 June 2002, Agenda Item 21. This decision authorised Barnet’s participation in the Central Buying Consortium (CBC), a library resources purchasing group.

2.

CORPORATE PRIORITIES AND POLICY CONSIDERATIONS

2.1

The supply contracts detailed in this report are essential for the effective delivery of library services and support the corporate priority to provide better services with less money. They offer value for money and a cost effective method of obtaining the necessary range and breadth of library resources.

3.

RISK MANAGEMENT ISSUES

3.1

Failure to enter into these contracts will result in interruption to the supply of books and other resources to the borough’s libraries and will affect the ability of the library service to make resources available for loan by the public.

3.2

Failure to approve the use of identified single source suppliers could result in a reduced range of materials available for the public to borrow with consequent impact upon service performance and reputation. These items are not available from other suppliers.

4.

EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY ISSUES

4.1

These proposals include procurement of large print and spoken word materials which are often borrowed by customers with a visual impairment. They also form a large part of the resources of the Home and Mobile Library Service who cater for library users who are housebound due to age or infirmity.

4.2

Compliance with Equalities legislation formed a mandatory part of each supplier’s qualification to tender in the CBC re-tender process referenced in section 8.5.

5.

USE OF RESOURCES IMPLICATIONS (Finance, Procurement, Performance & Value for Money, Staffing, IT, Property, Sustainability)

5.1

All contracts fall within the budget allocated for library media resources. This presently stands at £670,790 for the 2012-13 financial year.

5.2

The sum allocated to resources purchased via the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) contract is expected to total around £387,000 in 2012-13. Similar sums are anticipated for each year of the contract. On the basis that the contract continues for 4 years (2 years for the initial period plus an extension of 2 years) the total spend is anticipated as £1,548,000.

5.3

The sum allocated to resources from single source suppliers totals £79,000 for items to be purchased in 2012-13. Similar sums are anticipated for 2013-14 and 2014-15.

5.4

There are no IT or property considerations attached to these proposals.

6.

LEGAL ISSUES

6.1

The public library service is subject to the Public Libraries and Museums Act (1964), (PLMA) which requires library authorities to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. These proposals will enable the service to provide materials for loan and reference in support of that requirement.

6.2

As set out in paragraph 8.5 (below) the CBC contract was tendered in accordance with European procurement rules. Consequently, it will not be necessary to undertake a separate EU procurement process for the contract for the supply of library materials although, in utilising the CBC Framework, the Council must comply with the, relevant, criteria for use of the Framework.

7.

CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS

7.1

Council Constitution, Part 3, Responsibility for Functions, Section 6.1 – provides that Chief Officers can take decisions without consultation with the Cabinet Member concerned where it is a decision authorised to be taken by the Chief Officer under the Contract Procedure Rules

7.2

Where the Director/Assistant Director is satisfied, following the making of suitable investigations, that there is only one supplier in the market for the required supplies/services/works, the competitive tendering provisions will not apply provided that: 7.2.1 the Director/Assistant Director and the Director of Commercial Services approve the entry into the contract with the single provider; 7.2.2 should the Director/Assistant Director and Director of Commercial Services be one and the same the approval for entry into the contract with a single provider requires Deputy Chief Executive concurrence, and 7.2.3 there is compliance with the Authorisation and Acceptance procedures

8.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

8.1

Barnet Libraries became an associate member of the Central Buying Consortium (CBC) from the 1 August 2002, following recommendations from the Audit Commission to ‘explore competition further for stock re-tendering including local consortia’. The Central Buying Consortium is the largest local authority purchasing consortium in the UK. It has 17 local authority members and represents most of the major authorities from the Midlands to the South East, outside London. The CBC Library Group, a sub-group of the CBC, extended its membership to London Boroughs and currently has 46 members in total. The combined purchasing power of this group is considerable and substantial discounts have been achieved by purchasing library materials in this way. Exact levels of discount vary between types of stock and cannot be made public for reasons of commercial sensitivity. Commercial confidentiality is a contractual requirement of CBC membership. To ensure value for money is achieved average discount is reported against each quarter and monitored by the Contract Review Group.

8.2

The CBC contract is divided into six lots, each representing supply of a different type of library material. A list of lots can be seen below:

•

Lot 1 – Adult Non-Fiction

•

Lot 2 – Adult Fiction

•

Lot 3 – Children’s Fiction and Non-Fiction

•

Lot 4 – Standing Orders/ Reference

•

Lot 5 – Recorded Music

•

Lot 6 – DVD/ Games

8.3

The CBC contract is managed by West Sussex County Council whose procurement team conducts contract negotiations, procurement processes and monitors and evaluates on-going performance of all suppliers. Barnet provides feedback per quarter relating to the local performance of each supplier within the contract. Any issues are taken up by the CBC Library Group on a quarterly basis. Barnet pays an annual management fee to West Sussex County Council of 1% of Barnet’s annual spend through the contract.

8.4

External contract management represents a significant saving in local day to day management costs and substantial savings with regard to re-tendering processes. Working with 46 other local authorities also provides for greater standardisation in servicing requirements thus further reducing costs and driving greater value from stock supply contracts.

8.5

The CBC contract was re-tendered by West Sussex County Council in accordance with EU procurement regulations in Autumn 2011 with new contracts implemented from April 2012. The contract term lasts for an initial period of 2 years with options to extend by up to 2 years. The new contract arrangements take account of changes in the provision of library services, in particular increased requirement for supplier selection; provision for direct delivery of stock to multiple service points per authority and implementation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems for self-issue.

8.6

However, as an associate member Barnet can withdraw from the CBC at the end of each financial year should other framework contracts offer more favourable terms. A comprehensive review of potential consortia contracts was undertaken before Barnet joined the CBC in 2002. A further review of alternative framework contracts is scheduled for Autumn 2012 as part of the Library Strategic Review at which time proposals for the on-going supply of library resources will be developed.

8.7

Certain categories of material are not part of the CBC contract. These include: •

Community language materials

•

Large print

•

Talking books

•

Electronic databases and encyclopaedia

•

E-books and e-audio books

•

Supply of bibliographical data for library catalogue records

•

Newspapers and periodicals

8.8

These materials are purchased from specialist suppliers. The table below provides details of single source suppliers of library materials which fall outside the parameters of the CBC contract. These suppliers are at present the only providers of these items within the market or hold unique titles which cannot be purchased elsewhere in the specific format listed. In order to ensure ongoing value for money, prices for the items below will be regularly reviewed and the market regularly monitored to ascertain if there are new entrants. Benchmarking and tender processes will be undertaken as per contract procedure rules where new suppliers enter the market.

Supplier

Stock type

Estimated annual spend

Alternative suppliers

BRITISH LIBRARY

Provision of Interlibrary loans

£6000

None

BRIDGEALL LIBRARIES

Subscription to stock management tool SmartSM

£13,000

None

F.W. HOWES

£18,000 Spoken Word materials (adult and child)

Other spoken word suppliers are also used (Audio Go, Ulverscroft and Oakhill). Each publishes a unique list

MAGNA

Large print

£7,000

Publishes a unique list of titles

OAKHILL

Spoken Word (adult and child)

£5,000

Other spoken word suppliers are also used (Audio Go, Ulverscroft and F.W. Howes). Each publishes a unique list

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Online reference books.

£8,000

Other online reference book suppliers are also used. Each publisher has

OCLC

Provision of interlibrary loan database – Unity UK

£9,000

ULVERSCROFT

Large Print (adult) and Spoken Word (adult)

£13,000

unique titles. OUP supplies titles such as ‘Who’s Who’ not produced by other publishers OCLC provide the unified catalogue through which Barnet Libraries sources the majority of its interlibrary loans. Other spoken word suppliers are also used (Audio Go, F.W. Howes and Oakhill). Each publishes a unique list Large print is also purchased from Audio Go

9.

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS

9.1

Terms and conditions of CBC membership and procurement documentation relating to renewal of the CBC framework contract are available from Hannah Richens on request.

10.

OFFICER’S DECISION I authorise the following action

10.1

Continued use of the CBC framework contract from April 2012 for the supply of adult fiction and non-fiction; DVDs and music CDs; Children’s and teenage fiction and non-fiction and reference materials

10.2

Procurement of materials not within the CBC framework contract from single source suppliers as identified at section 8.8 (above)in this report

Signed

Bill Murphy Assistant Director Customer Services and Libraries

Date

19/11/12

Signed

Julie Taylor

Date

Assistant Chief Executive 19/11/12