Official UK procurement notice
Housing, Neighbourhood and Building Services - Repairs & Maintenance and Gas Servicing & Repair Delivery Options Appraisal , Portsmouth
Authority: Portsmouth City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPortsmouth City Council (the 'Council') is undertaking a Soft Market Testing (SMT) exercise as part of a strategic review of delivery options for the provision of repairs & maintenance and gas servicing across its managed building assets. The Council is responsible for managing a portfolio of properties that require regular repairs and maintenance, along with gas servicing to ensure safety, compliance, and efficiency to Council properties.
The Council currently have three separate contracts in place for Gas Servicing and Repairs & Maintenance across Council managed assets, that are due to expire on 31/03/2026 -
- Term Service Contract for the Servicing, Maintenance and Compliance (Gas, M&E and Buildings) - approximate Value of Contract - £7M per annum
- Housing Repair and Maintenance - PO1 to PO5 (on Portsea Island and commercial properties) - approximate Value of Contract - £20M per annum
- Housing Repair and Maintenance - PO6 to PO9 (off Portsea Island and commercial properties) - approximate Value of Contract - £20M per annum
The Councils options appraisal will consider the merits of both in-sourced and out-sourced delivery models in delivering the council's strategic objectives, addressing emerging risks & opportunities and, vitally, addressing resident needs.
The Council have published this Prior Information Notice and subsequent associated documents under the current Public Contract Regulations 2015. However, if the Council chooses to pursue an outsourced delivery model, the subsequent formal procurement will commence in May 2025 at which point the forthcoming Procurement Act 2023 will have come into force legally, subject to their being no further significant delays to the current go live date of 24th February 2025.
To avoid any future compliance issues impacting a subsequent procurement process, the Council has designed an SMT process that will align with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023, particularly in relation to the increased transparency, conflict assessment and risk assessment considerations that the act will impose.
The Council's aim in undertaking this SMT exercise is to understand the market's interest, capacity, capability, and ideas for delivering these services. The Council is also seeking to assist main contractors and sub-contractors with identifying and engaging potential delivery partners with which they could provide the Council's requirements through facilitating networking and information sharing.
The Council will be keeping residents informed at all stages of the process via resident consortiums and resident maintenance subgroups. However, it will also be necessary for the Council to consider wider consultation and representation with its secure tenants, as directed by legislation, where a decision could result in a change of practice or policy in relation to a programme of maintenance before reaching any conclusions.
The feedback will inform the Council's strategic options appraisal and help ensure that any subsequent procurement strategy is optimised to meet resident needs, strategic objectives, statutory obligations and best value duties.
The Council will be running an in-person event on Wednesday 23rd October 2024 and, for those unable to attend in person, a subsequent Microsoft Teams event on Friday 25th October 2024.
Interested parties are encouraged to attend the in-person event, if possible, as it will present an opportunity to network and investigate new business relationships as well as providing an opportunity to meet Council officers, residents and other key stakeholders.
To review and feedback on the delivery strategy and options, the Council have published a SMT Questionnaire to be completed via Survey Monkey, available through the Councils e-tendering portal - Intend.
The Council are requesting the survey is completed by Friday 8th November 2024 at 14:00, any responses after this deadline may not be considered in the final options report.
CPV: Carpentry installation work · Decoration work · Electrical engineering installation works · Electrical installation work of electrical distribution apparatus · Electrical installation work of pumping equipment · Electrical installation work of transformers · Electrical wiring and fitting work · Electricity supply installations · Erection of fencing · Erection of railings · Exterior cleaning work for buildings · Fire-alarm system installation work · +25 more
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Council are conducting the SMT exercise to:Planned
The Council are conducting the SMT exercise to:
- Provide a platform to share information on:
o Current scope & potential future demand
o Envisaged contracting strategy options
o Lotting options for individual and combined delivery of services
o Changing financial climate and associated pressures
o Key Council policies and future decision-making processes
o Indicative procurement and mobilisation programme
- Review and understand:
o Market capacity and capability to deliver service requirements, either directly or through partnership/consortium/sub-contracting arrangements
o Suppliers current market presence and coverage
o Current contracting model market norms
o Market interest and preference in respect of potential delivery model options
o Existing pricing models
o Types of ICT systems used by suppliers to manage and monitor the delivery of services
o Developments of industry accreditations, compliance and best practice
- To gauge interest from different types of suppliers, including both regional Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and large contractors
- Facilitate the development of new supplier relationships in order to maximise access to the procurement opportunity and maximise competition
- Inform the further development of the procurement strategy, process and programme
- Manage potential conflicts of interest early in the process
- Future proof compliance of any subsequent procurement process with the increased transparency obligations, risk assessment and conflict assessment requirements of the forthcoming Procurement Act 2023
Housing Stock Background -
The Council has a housing stock of approximately 17,500 properties of which approximately 15,500 are socially rented and then there are approximately 2000 leasehold properties. Within the stock there is a mix of housing types including houses and bungalows, however the majority of the dwellings are within purpose-built blocks of flats constructed in the 1950s and 1960s.
Traditionally the estate has been spread across the two geographical areas of Portsea Island (on-island, PO1 to PO5) and Paulsgrove and Havant (off-island, PO6 to PO9). A recent acquisition of approximately 800 properties has however subsequently increased the 'off-island' area to sites in Gosport, Southampton and Winchester.
Existing Gas Service Contract
A single term service provider has managed all gas servicing across the housing stock under an NEC 4 Option E Cost Reimbursement contract. The gas servicing contract covers residential housing stock only and does not include any corporate assets.
The contract has been in operation for just over 10 years and is currently utilising the extent of its extensions and will expire in March 2026 with an estimated overall contract value of approximately £70m.
The existing arrangement has incorporated a number of functions and has not been solely gas related and has included but is not exhaustive of:
- Annual gas servicing
- Replacement & maintenance of boilers
- Emergency callouts
- HIU servicing and repair
- Water quality testing**
- Electrical inspection and testing**
- Fire door, sprinkler and smoke detector checks**
** whilst the existing scope of services includes these activities, these are viewed as low value non-core requirements, which could be removed from future scope or included as a potential option for service delivery
Existing Repairs & Maintenance
Two term service providers have managed the general repairs and maintenance requirements across the housing stock under an NEC 4 Option E Cost Reimbursement contract.
Each service provider has covered a distinct geographical area with one provider being responsible for 'on-island' repairs and one contractor being responsible for 'off-island' repairs. The 'on-island' contractor also manages repairs to a number of the Council's corporate assets.
The contract with each service provider has been in operation for just under 10 years and will expire in March 2026 with an estimated overall combined contract value of approximately £400m split fairly evenly across both geographical areas.
The existing arrangement has incorporated a number of functions and has included but is not exhaustive of:
- General responsive repairs
- General void property works
- Disabled adaptations
- Decorations
- Compliance testing
- Solar panel repairs
- Fire door, sprinkler and smoke detector checks
- Catering and Laundry Appliance Servicing and Repairs
Overview of lotting Options
The current model for gas and repairs maintenance has been delivered with a single term service provider for gas, covering both on and off-island and two term service providers for repairs, with one covering on-island and one covering off-island.
As both the gas contract and the two repair contracts are due to expire in March 2026 there is an opportunity, should an outsourcing strategy be pursued, to run the re-procurement of these concurrently and explore the possibility of combining the service.
There is no set model of how the new service might appear, consequently the concept of lotting has been introduced so that the Council can review a variety of strategies from returned questionnaire responses. The SMT questionnaire will assist the Council in determining the final appearance of the lotting options included in any subsequent procurement process.
Lot 1, 2 & 3 - This is the retention of the existing arrangement with three separate lead suppliers, with individual contracts -
- Lot 1 - Gas Servicing - all areas (on-island and off-island)
- Lot 2 - Repairs & Maintenance - on-island
- Lot 3 - Repairs & Maintenance - off-island
Lot 4 & 5 - This is an alternative delivery model with two separate lead suppliers*** -
- Lot 4 - Repairs & Maintenance and Gas Servicing - on-island
- Lot 5 - Repairs & Maintenance and Gas Servicing - off-island
***Whilst these lotting options will have one supplier per lot to deliver the Repairs & Maintenance and Gas Servicing, the Council envisages each supplier will have…
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 9 Oct 2024, 18:32 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Oct 2024, 18:32 BST
- FTS notice number
2024/S 000-032496- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04a74aFind a Tender
Publisher note: Systems Thinking Approach The previous contracts have been managed on a full open book partnership basis with adoption of a range of Vanguard Systems Thinking designed processes and performance measures. The Council envisages these principles will still form part of any ongoing delivery strategy for the Gas Servicing and Repairs & Maintenance contracts, though potentially their application may be modified dependant on the chosen delivery model. Improvements to the system of management are made based on knowledge gained using the Systems Thinking method by undertaking Check, Plan, Do, together with using the Council's principles of work. Further information on System Thinking can be freely accessed via the Vanguard site using the link below. https://vanguard-method.net/the-vanguard-method-and-systems-thinking/ Further information regarding the Council's application of the Systems Thinking methodology, IT systems, repairs & maintenance services, statutory compliance activities, asset improvement and partnership working is included within Council's Asset Management Strategy 2021. Over the last 5 years there have been approximately 13,000 gas safety checks annually and 9000 annual gas and general boiler repairs, which is likely to remain consistent over the course of any new contract. Over the last 5 years there have been approximately 16,000 annual general repairs and maintenance tasks undertaken across the 'on-island' stock and 15,000 annually across the 'off-island' stock, which is likely to remain consistent over the course of any new contract. The Council is currently working on a number of development options, and it is anticipated that within the next 5-10 years there is potential for up to 1000 additional dwellings to be created that will require some level of maintenance and consequently will need to be absorbed into any new contract. With the impending changes to gas installations post 2025 it is unlikely that there will be an increase in demand for annual gas servicing as a result of any development and as the stock decarbonises the current level of demand may reduce. Social Value The provision of social value is an increasingly important topic for the Council and within public sector procurement, with the Council adopting an updated policy in 2021, see the following link - Social-Value-Policy March 2021 Gas Servicing and Repairs & Maintenance Contracts will need to incorporate social value to ensure the Council achieves community benefits from the contracts beyond the core service provisions. This commitment aligns with the Council's strategic priorities to foster local economic growth, improve social outcomes, and enhance environmental sustainability. The Council are committed to continuously reviewing and improving the approach to social value delivery, and suppliers will be encouraged to innovate and suggest new ways of increasing their contribution to commitments made towards Economic Regeneration, Employment, Skills, and Training, Environmental Considerations and Community Engagement, whilst working in Partnership with the Council and partner organisations. Changing context and objectives Over the next 5-10 years the Council is expecting to experience a number of challenges with regards to the maintenance of its housing and general fund properties with any incumbent provider to work in partnership with the Council to ease pressures where they can. There will be significant pressure to decarbonise the stock to align with local political objectives and comply with national Government energy legislation. Significant changes in legislation such as the Building Safety Act and Fire Safety Act will require greater scrutiny from suppliers to ensure they are working in a compliant way and may require them to adopt new skills such as undertaking works as a result of Building Safety Cases for buildings of 6+ storeys. There will be more focus on the accuracy and timely manner of up-load of compliance information and ensuring repairs, particularly around damp and mould are well managed and resolved and will be monitored by the Social Housing Regulator. It will be expected that any incumbent contractor will align their processes with the Council, particularly around systems thinking and that the contractor will lead on social value commitment and contributing to and supporting the surrounding community.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
9 Oct 2024 → 12 May 2025 · 2 dates- Notice published9 Oct 2024, 18:32 BST
- Tender notice expected12 May 2025, 00:00 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.