Decision details

Ipswich Borough Council operates a fleet of vehicles used in the delivery of a wide range of services including housing and building maintenance; domestic and trade refuse collection, street cleansing; parking services, parks and open spaces, HEARS response. These vehicles require maintenance and repair; this includes servicing, MOTs, repairs, accident damage and other statutory inspections.

The Council entered into a vehicle maintenance and repair contract with 3H Services (UK) ltd on 1st April 2015 for an initial period of 5 years with a further 2-year extension which expired on 31st March 2022.

A procurement exercise was started in January 2022 but has failed to deliver an awardable contract. Consequently, a new procurement is to be started this month. In the meantime, the Council continues to require the maintenance of its fleet.

The decision made was to extend the current contract with 3H Services (UK) Ltd for a further period during which a tender for new contracts will be published.

The value of this extension is limited to a value of £149,999 plus VAT.

The reason for this decision is that there is a need to ensure the vehicle fleet meets the statutory requirements for its maintenance and repair, with the availability and reliability of vehicles being critical for the Council’s ability to perform many of its statutory services such as refuse collection. This extension will allow time for a revised procurement process and new contract(s) to be put in place.