Decision details

The Cabinet Member: 

1.     Authorised the award of contract to Outspoken Training LLP for delivery of Bikeability cycle training from 1st April 2024 for a period of 12 months up to the value of £147,344, with the option to extend for four further periods of 12 months for the same value.  The maximum contract term shall be five years up to the value of £736,720. 

2.     Authorised the Director of Place & Economy to vary the works order value when required subject to:

·       available budget being in place;

·       the total sum of each variation not exceeding £100,000; and

·       the combined value of any authorised variation(s) do not exceed the total sum of £500,000.

Any variations are to be made in prior consultation with internal audit, finance and legal services.

3.     Delegated approval to the Director of Place & Economy to authorise the decision whether to invoke the extension period following the initial contract term and in accordance with the contract provisions.

This recommendation has been made to ensure that the Council is able to effectively claim grant funding awarded to it by the Bikeability Trust via Active Travel England for delivery of Bikeability training at Peterborough schools.  Successful delivery of the training will help the Council to obtain further funding from the Bikeability Trust for future years. Delivery of the cycle training to pupils will help build confidence and encourage them to take up cycling as a mode of transport when travelling to and from school, college and work. This will help to reduce the number of journeys made by vehicles and also reduce the overall carbon emissions emitted in the city. 

A number of alternative options were considered and these were: 

·        Not to award a contract - this would waste a valuable opportunity for the Council to continue delivering Bikeability at schools which is offered for free to pupils and funded by a grant from Active Travel England. The Council has been receiving the funding since 2009. 

·        Extend existing contract for a further year – this was rejected as this option had previously been taken and did not offer value for money. The decision was previously made due to lack of time to undertake a full procurement exercise.  

·        Award contract for a single year (covering only confirmed funding period 2024/25) – this was rejected due to it not being efficient use of time and resource to undertake procurement and award contract and then to repeat the same procedure again in 12 month’s time. Furthermore, the decision to not proceed with this option was supported by the results of the Soft Market Test which did not indicate that a contract with a one year term would appeal to the market and promote a healthy level of competition. 

None.

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