Issue - meetings

DRR17/034

At its meeting on 9^th November 2015, the Executive had instructed officers to market test the library service using a procurement strategy based on competition with negotiation to enable officers to work with bidders to realise savings. The report set out the history of the tendering process; at the second round of tenders one bidder had dropped out and this had resulted in a single final bid, which was from Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL). GLL was a large and well established provider of local authority services, including operating library services in Greenwich, Wandsworth and Lincolnshire and in prisons for the Ministry of Justice. Their bid would deliver savings for the Council by implementing efficiencies in operational and specialist support functions, economies of scale and purchasing power, savings from rate relief due to their charitable status and exploring opportunities to maintain and develop income streams.

Extensive consultation and engagement had been carried out with staff and their representatives; this was set out in the report. In addition, a petition in two parts had been received from Kathy Smith/Unite objecting to the Contracting out of Library Services -

(1) Petition to Oppose the Contracting Out of Library Services

“We wish to petition the Council on the issue of the tender for the provision of library services. We note that a Council member decision will be made in May 2017. We also note that the Council accepts that it may be that the best value outcome is that a contract is not awarded and we welcome the fact that the Council is considering this as an option. We strongly believe that the service must remain in-house. Based on consultation exercises conducted by the Council itself, we also believe that this is a desire shared by residents of the borough. We, the signatories to this petition, formally request that a deputation is allowed to be made to the Council on the matter.”  

This petition had been verified with 2,042 signatures (as well as 780 signatures that are out of borough, incomplete or illegible). In addition, 936 survey sheets had been handed in with the petition, of which 794 were from residents of the borough.

The Leader invited Kathy Smith to address the Executive in support of her petition. She complained that there was a lack of transparency, with too much information restricted to part 2 and little evidence of the supposed benefits of the proposed contract. She stated that many residents opposed the proposals, and that the library service should be treasured rather than sold off, especially as there had eventually been only one tenderer, offering the Council no choice. She stated that when the Museum had been closed and moved to the Central Library assurances had been given that museum status would be preserved – this had not been the case. She also referred to problems with contract monitoring in the Environment and Community Services Department which did not provide reassurance that services would be safe, and complained that Councillors had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 281