The Board received a report from the Strategic Director – Enterprise,
Community and Resources, which requested approval to waive procurement standing
orders to award a contract to develop the Runcorn Town Deal Project Business
Cases.
Halton Borough Council had secured £23.6m to deliver the Runcorn Town
Investment Plan, which included seven projects.
In order to draw down funding, a robust business case for each project
was required against a challenging timetable set by Government for the
completion of these. Members were advised that external consultancy support was required
to progress the work and it was proposed that the contract for delivering this
specialist support be awarded to Amion Consulting
Limited.
The report provided some background information in respect of Amion and gave examples of previous Council projects where
the Company had provided technical support.
It was noted that Amion
was knowledgeable of the area, had already established good working relations
with project sponsors and had indepth knowledge of
project proposals. It was
agreed that this approach offered the Council good value for money as
well as an opportunity to commence this work quickly, thereby reducing the
risks of business cases not being completed within the required timeframe.
RESOLVED: That
1)
Procurement Standing Orders 3.1 be waived to approve the appointment of Amion Consulting Limited to undertake Town Deal Project
Business Cases until August 2022, using the same terms as the original contract. The value of the contract is estimated to be
£150k; and
2)
in accordance
with the provisions of Procurement Standing Orders, 1.14.4 and 1.14.5 (ii) Procurement
Standing Orders be waived on this occasion.