Agenda item

(To receive a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer and Fiona Fielding, Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer, which invites the Committee to consider and comment on the  Re—Procurement of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Fleet Maintenance Services, prior to consideration by the Executive Councillor for Fire and Rescue and Cultural Services between 6 and 10 November 2023)

PUBLIC PROTECTION AND COMMUNITIES SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

The Committee considered a report from Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer, which invited the Committee to consider and comment on the Re-Procurement of LFR Fleet Maintenance, a decision which was due to considered by the Executive Councillor for Fire and Rescue and Cultural Services between 6 and 10 November 2023.

The Chairman invited Mark Baxter, Chief Fire Officer to present the report. Fiona Fielding, Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer and Steve Topham, Assistant Chief Fire Officer were also in attendance for this item.

Attached at Appendix A was a copy of the report to the Executive Councillor for Fire and Rescue and Cultural Services regarding the Re-Procurement of LFR Fleet Maintenance for the Committee to consider.

In guiding the Committee through the report, particular reference was made to: the proposed contract being a three year contract with options to extend by two further periods of three years each being procured through a competitive tender, to allow the Council to put in place a flexible, value for money contract; that the current contract was due to expire on 30 June 2024; the background to the current arrangements; the cost implications; and contract management details to ensure that Key Performance Indicators were met.

It was highlighted collaborative working with Lincolnshire Police or other Fleet contracts could be future options to be explored, but currently neither option was viable at this time.

The Committee noted that collaboration with Humberside Fire and Rescue Services was being explored whilst the tender process was ongoing.

In conclusion, it was noted that the desired outcome was to have a flexible contract to cover all planned maintenance, servicing, and MOT to all levels of Service vehicle, as well as reactive repairs and breakdown support, including Out of Hours cover with the provision to break the contract, or include other services dependent on the outcome of the review of operations.   The Committee was advised that the benefits from awarding the contract would ensure that LFR fleet was kept and maintained in safe, operational condition, with the required service levels and all legal requirements of fire service vehicles being met.  

During consideration of this item, the following comments were noted:

Service Specification and Tender Process

·       If there were no bids for the contract or the costs were too high, there were other procedures which could be undertaken to help get the contract in place. This could include negotiating with other contractors, either the current contractor or other contractors in the market, while following the public contract regulations;

·       With regards to the proposal to increase the no-fault break clause from 12 months in the existing contract to 18 months in the new contract, it was confirmed that this was to give maximum opportunity to explore other options should any come forward. A year was considered too short, and 18 months would be the halfway point for the initial contract period of three years and then for each extension period of three years;

·       By splitting the tender into two lots, this would maximise opportunities to explore other options. There were more providers in the marketplace who could service the light vehicle fleet but not the heavy vehicle fleet. This would enable providers to provide quotes for doing both lots or just one of the lots which would give maximum flexibility to achieve the best possible service;

·       With regards to the need for specialists for maintaining specialist vehicles, confirmation was provided that the service specification stated that all the staff who would work on the contract would have to hold specific certifications;

·       The new contract would be assessed against a suite of key performance indicators (KPIs) that included timeliness of routine maintenance, turnaround times, recovery times, and getting vehicles back on the road. These KPIs currently perform very well under the current contract. A contract manager would continue to manage the contract on a day-to-day basis to oversee the performance;

·       In relation to collaborating with other fire services or other partners such as the police and highways to negotiate a better contract for different types of vehicles, it was confirmed that the contract was structured to allow for greater flexibility to enable the Council to work with other partners if that became an option in the future. The longer break clause would provide this flexibility. Partnering and collaboration with other agencies was a key focus and the contract was centred around the ability to do that; and

·       The Committee requested that it be kept informed of the outcomes of the discussions around collaborative arrangements with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service.

Contingency Plans for Vehicle Maintenance and Breakdowns

·       In order to continue to provide a service while vehicles were being serviced, it was confirmed that there were up to four vehicles that were kept as spares for planned maintenance and in case an unplanned issue takes a vehicle off the road;

·       The contract would provide for a spare vehicle to be made available and driven out to a broken-down vehicle and for the broken-down vehicle to be recovered for repairs. This would ensure that the high level of availability was constantly maintained; and

·       In response to a suggestion about using local breakdown services instead, it was highlighted that this could lead to issues in consistency in regard to the servicing and the specialist knowledge of the equipment. Having one supplier centrally located would help to maintain the timetabling of the regular maintenance programme as well as the reactionary maintenance when something goes wrong.

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee extended his thanks to the presenters.

RESOLVED

That unanimous support be extended by the Public Protection and Community Scrutiny Committee to the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Fire and Rescue and Cultural Services, as shown on page 31 of the report pack; and that the comments raised by the Committee be forwarded on to the Executive Councillor for Fire and Rescue and Cultural Services, prior to the decision being taken between 6 and 10 November 2023.