Decision details

A number of Ipswich Borough Council's operational teams are relocating to the Council’s new carbon neutral depot in December 2024.

It has been recommended that the Council sources a material handling stacker truck to be used with the new warehouse pallet racking as this will provide the safest and most efficient method of mechanical handling. The Council’s existing mechanical handling equipment which is hired, is unsuitable for the new warehouse layout due to height and width limitations.

It has been established that the lead-in time for this type of specialised equipment is between 12 and 36 weeks depending on the specific truck specified and that the costs to the Council would be less than its existing mechanical handling equipment which is hired.

Due to the lengthy lead-in time for the delivery of a suitable material handling stacker truck, following consultation involving the Council’s Legal, Finance and Procurement teams and a recommendation from the Council’s Section 151 Officer, the Director – Operations and Place made the decision to waive requirements within the Contract Standing Orders to conduct a competitive purchasing process for this requirement in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, Part 4, Section 7, Contract Standing Orders, para 3.10 and Part 3, Section 5, Officer Delegation Scheme, para 9.1. The reason for this being that a delay in awarding a contract would be likely to lead to financial loss and it is economically in the best interests of the Council to proceed with an award without further delay, due to the timescales for relocating to the new depot and the need to safely and efficiently use the warehouse racking.

Following the decision to waive requirements within the Contract Standing Orders to conduct a competitive purchasing process the Assistant Director – Housing has made the decision to award a contract to Storage Aspects Ltd for the supply of an electric powered stacker, suitable to lift 1000kg to a top beam level of 5.3m and designed aisle width. The contract is for a 60 month lease at a cost of £5,160 per annum. There will be a requirement for operator training costs and repairs/ consumable spares over the contract period. Therefore, the total contract value will be £32,500.

The costs will me met from existing core service budgets and provide a cost saving to the current costs for mechanical handling equipment.