Agenda item

Report ES11109

Portfolio Holder agreement was sought for the procurement of bailiff services to provide effective debt recovery for Parking and to use a framework agreement for the future provision of bailiff and debt collection services. In the interim period continued use would be made of existing bailiff services to ensure efficient collection and recovery of Penalty Charge Notice debts.

The service agreement with current bailiffs had been reviewed and to continue provision of an effective collection service it was necessary to ensure that market testing had taken place and that robust contractual arrangements were made with an effective service specification in place. 

A European Union compliant procurement framework had been identified – the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) Bailiff Services Contract 984CC. The ESPO framework agreement had an expiry of 31st December 2011 but was being extended for a further year whilst a new framework was put in place for January 2013. Currently the ESPO framework agreement included four suitable suppliers who had been pre-qualified. Use of the framework agreement would negate the need for LB Bromley to carry out its own pre-qualification assessment.

However it was recommended that use of the ESPO agreement be delayed until after the end of the extension period to allow the review to be completed and an assessment of the revised agreement to be made, taking into account feedback from local authorities using the agreement. In addition there were a number of other companies who might wish to tender for the work for LB Bromley including both current contractors who had significant experience of working within the borough. During the review period it was suggested in the report that these companies, and others, might wish to take the opportunity to seek inclusion within the revised framework.

Parking Services would inform the bailiffs’ trade association of the intention to use the ESPO framework agreement so ensuring that companies interested in tendering for work with LBB understood that they would need to be within the ESPO framework agreement if they were to be considered. This would include contractors currently used by the Council.

The possibility of using bailiff companies whom Liberata currently employ for the collection of outstanding LB Bromley Council Tax had also been investigated. It was recommended that Parking Services test the services of Phoenix and Chandlers who were Liberata’s current service providers, and if the standards sought by the Council were met then the option of extending the existing Council Tax contract to embrace parking fine collection could also be considered.

To ensure that a formal agreement remains in place, Legal Services would be requested to extend the agreement with the current service suppliers until 31st March 2013.

In discussion the process for recalling debts was briefly outlined including situations where a foreign vehicle was involved. Certain background related to costs that could be included in a bailiff company’s fee was also briefly outlined. It was confirmed that a warrant could be pulled back from a bailiff at any stage in the process and enforcement action halted where there was a problem e.g. incorrect documentation. Against benchmarking, a 20-25% collection rate was highlighted as a good achievement. 

RESOLVED that the Environmental Portfolio Holder be recommended to:

(1)  approve in principle the use of the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO) Bailiff Services Contract 984CC for Bailiff Services from 1^st April 2013, as described in section 4 of Report ES11109;

(2)  approve the retention of JBW and Swift Credit Services to provide parking bailiff services up to 31^st March 2013;

(3)  approve the placement of a sample of Penalty Charge Notice debt collection cases with the Council’s existing Council Tax bailiffs; and

(4)  approve the agreement for use for three years commencing on 1^st April 2013 with an optional one year extension - if the new framework agreement did not meet the Council’s requirements a further report to Members would be made to recommend an alternative way forward.