Issue - meetings

To consider the award of a contract for corporate Hybrid Print and Mail Services.

Resolved:-

(1) That the Director of Business Strategy and Change and the Director of Finance - Section 151 Officer, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, be authorised to award a contract for corporate Hybrid Print and Mail Services, via the ESPO Framework Agreement RM6017-19 Postal Goods, Services and Solutions for a 5 year period commencing on 1 September 2022 with an option to extend for up to a further 2 years.

(2) That the Director Law and Governance – Monitoring Officer be

authorised to execute any documentation necessary to enable the action referred to in (1) above.

                  Approval was sought for the Director of Business Strategy and Change, in consultation with the Director of Finance – Section 151 Officer and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, be authorised to award a contract for corporate Hybrid Print and Mail Services, via the ESPO Framework Agreement RM6017-19 Postal Goods, Services and Solutions for a 5 year period commencing on 1 September 2022 with an option to extend for up to a further 2 years.

                  Reasons for Decision

                  The report sought approval to award a contract for corporate Hybrid Print and Mail Services following a compliant procurement process.

                  Implementation of a Hybrid Print and Mail solution would deliver a number of benefits to the Council:

·      Fully supports and enables the Council’s Workplace Vision Programme and Smart Working Policy

·      Reduces storage requirements (paper, envelopes etc)

·      Achieves contractual savings (Multi-Functional Devices, Central Print, peripherals)

·      Achieves financial savings through reduced mail charges as providers prepare the mail to a high standard which removes several of the preparation stages normally carried out by Royal Mail

·      Improves document quality and consistency – control letterheads, stationery and attachments and achieve high quality and consistent production of documents

·      Can control and restrict the use of expensive print and mail options such as colour printing and first-class mail

·      Production of detailed management information about what we print which can be used to identify opportunities for on-line notifications, reducing postage costs further.

The estimated cashable savings that would be achieved upon successful implementation of Hybrid Print and Mail were over £220,000 per annum. Savings would increase further as we use the intelligence about what was printed to identify opportunities for online/digital notifications.

Alternative Options Considered

The Council could continue with the current printing arrangements where most of the printing and dispatch is done from Council Offices. This option would not realise any of the benefits outlined. The Council would also incur additional expense in the future as machinery in the Central Print Unit would need to be replaced.

Agreed:-

(1)     that the Director of Business Strategy and Change and the Director of Finance - Section 151 Officer, in consultation with Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, be authorised to award a contract for corporate Hybrid Print and Mail Services, via the ESPO Framework Agreement RM6017-19 Postal Goods, Services and Solutions for a 5 year period commencing on 1 September 2022 with an option to extend for up to a further 2 years;

(2)     that the Director Law and Governance – Monitoring Officer be authorised to execute any documentation necessary to enable the action referred to in Resolution (1) above.