Brent Council to deliver some Barnet services

The Brent Executive is to be asked at their April meeing to 'agree the principle of Brent taking over delivery of the Registration and Nationality Service on behalf of Barnet, explore in detail the business case for doing so and agree the formulation of an Inter Authority Agreement.'

Four borough 'super-contract' reduced to three

The four borough 'public realm' procurement contract led by Brent Council has been reduced to three after the London Borough of Richmond dropped out. The contract would cover waste management, recycling, street cleansing, and parks maintenance and include Brent Housing Partnership. A report to the Brent Executive states:

Late last week the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames decided not to participate in the joint procurement because of the need to award a contract starting in April 2014 to meet Brent’s requirements. This would give Richmond a long period of time with an incumbent provider who might not win the contract, giving a risk of having to manage poor performance.

This leaves the boroughs of Hounslow and Barnet. Hounslow has recently awarded a 25 year street cleaning contract so that will not be included. A proposal for Brent and Hounslow to share a Director of Public Health was withdrawn from the agenda of the Brent Executive after it encountered oppositon from within the Brent Labour Group.

Meanwhile Barnet Council is in considerable disarray after its Chief Executive moved on. Cllr Brian Coleman, ex-GLA member, is facing  expulsion from the Conservative group on the council after being arrested and charged with common assault.

Despite the circumstances the Brent report remains upbeat.

The business case for the collaborative procurement with Barnet and Hounslow is still robust. Both councils are still committed to the project and are taking a report to their Cabinets in November 2012.

The slightly reduced scale of the contract helps to mitigate some of the procurement risks set out in paragraphs 3.4.4, 3.4.9 and 3.4.11 of the main report to the Executive:

a slightly smaller contract may encourage other companies to bid

subject to specification development, it will be easier to align services with just one borough where we share boundaries than across four.

The governance arrangements will be updated to reflect the withdrawal of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames