Through its Registration Service, the Council
provides a suite of bereavement related services for the residents
of the borough and for the coroners services, the wider Black
Country area.
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council is the relevant authority for
the Black Country Coroners jurisdiction, and it is therefore
incumbent on Sandwell to provide the necessary resources to enable
the coroner to discharge their judicial responsibilities.
A death will be referred to the coroner if it is:
(a)the deceased died a violent or unnatural death,
(b)the cause of death is unknown, or
(c) the deceased died while in custody or otherwise in state
detention.
In order for the coroner to ascertain the cause of death, it is
often necessary to use toxicology services. Specimen samples are
sent for toxicology testing are usually collected by a
coroner’s pathologist or on their behalf by a mortuary
technician during a post-mortem examination. Analysis of a variety
of fluids and tissue samples will be undertaken to determine the
absence or presence of drugs and poisons.
Tender submissions were invited with four compliant bids evaluated
using the published award criteria which were based on 70% price
and 30% quality/social value.
Analytical Services International Limited submitted the lowest
compliant tender price total and were therefore awarded the maximum
score of 70% for this criterion. They were equal second highest
scoring tenderer on the quality/social value criterion with a score
of 23.33%.
Therefore, following the analysis of returned Tenders and in
accordance with the published criteria, it is recommended
Analytical Services International Limited be awarded the
contract.
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 01/12/2023
Decision due: 30 Nov 2023 by Director Finance, Director Law and Governance
Contact: Teresa Armstrong Email: teresa_armstrong@sandwell.gov.uk.
Implications: Strategic Resource Implications The value of any contract of this type is dependant of the volume of cases referred to the Coroner. It is estimated that this new contract will see annual expenditure of circa £102,000. Over the course of a four-year contract Sandwell’s expenditure will be circa £408,000. In accordance with the existing collaborative agreement for the shared coroners service with the other Black Country Councils, Sandwell will recover 75% of all expenditure for the provision of toxicology services. Expenditure associated with the services to be provided as part of this contract will be accounted for from existing revenue budgets and as part of the Council’s annual budget setting cycle for the service. Legal and Statutory Implications In accordance with the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, a coroner who is made aware that the body of a deceased person is within that coroner's area has a duty as soon as is practicable to conduct an investigation into the pe