Decision details

The Council requires the use of specialist technical services to meet the requirements of visiting productions specifically in the areas of rigging, electrical installation, sound and lighting operation, to supplement our current in-house expertise.

The Council is currently preparing tender documents for a Theatres Technical Support ProcurementFramework which we are expecting to be published in January 2023 with a contract award being made in March 2023. However, there is a need to provide these services in the interim period.

There is an urgent need for specialist technical knowledge and expertise for the Council’s venues on behalf of visiting productions for the period 19th December 2022 to 31st March 2023. Not being able to source this knowledge and expertise would be likely to result in financial loss as a result of being unable to provide the technical support required in the Council’s agreements with promoters of visiting productions.

A decision has been made to exempt this contract from the requirement in Contract Standing Orders (para 3.10.2) to conduct a competitive purchasing and award a contract to Rock Solid Group Ltd for the period 19th December 2022 to 31st March 2023 for the provision of specialist technical services for the Council’s venues with a maximum contract value of £25,000.

It is considered appropriate to waive the requirement for the Council to conduct a competitive purchasing it is necessary to ensure the provision of specialist technical services as a matter of urgency as a delay would be likely to lead to financial loss and loss of service.

The maximum contract value of £25,000 will be met from existing approved budgets.