Hillingdon Council Cabinet Member and Officer Decisions
Postal Services Contract Extension
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Executive Decision Notice – 10 September 2024
This notice is a public document also available to view on the Council's website www.hillingdon.gov.uk
OFFICIAL EXECUTIVE DECISION NOTICE
PUBLISHED BY DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
Notice is hereby given that the following decision(s) have been made today by
Cabinet Members at the London Borough of Hillingdon:
Title of decision POSTAL SERVICES CONTRACT EXTENSION
Reference No. 1200
Date of decision Tuesday 10 September 2024
Call-in expiry date Tuesday 17 September 2024
Relevant Select
Committee
Corporate Resources and Infrastructure Select Committee
Relevant Wards N/A
Decision made
Cabinet Members
making the decision
Councillor Ian Edwards – Leader of the Council
Councillor Douglas Mills – Cabinet Member for Corporate
Services
Decision Approved
That the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for
Corporate Services agreed to extend the current contract
with Royal Mail for the provision of postal services to the
London Borough of Hillingdon for a two- year period from
16 September 2024 to 15 September 2026 and at the
estimated cost of £234,000 dependant on usage.
Reason for decision There is an ongoing requirement across the Council to send and
receive physical mail. The pan-London postal services contract
with Royal Mail continues to provide cost avoidance against
Royal Mail’s standard rate. Therefore, approval is requested to
utilise the two-year extension to this contract, whilst alternative
digital options are being implemented across the Council.
Alternative options
considered and
rejected
Contract with Royal Mail outside the consortium: An alternative
option is to continue arrangements with Royal Mail Group
Limited outside of the Consortium contract, this option is not
recommended as would result in foregoing the competitive rates
currently offered by the consortium due to economies of scale.
Alternative strategies: Alternative wider cross -cutting strategies
to support a digital-enabled, modern, well-run Council are set to
begin this year. Rapid reductions in physical mail across the
Council will require significant organisational process changes.
Officers will present these options in the Council-wide strategy
document, also considering various alternative communication
methods already in place across other Local Authorities.
Executive Decision Notice – 10 September 2024
This notice is a public document also available to view on the Council's website www.hillingdon.gov.uk
Some discussions with high usage service areas such as
Parking and Planning, have already explored some options to
reduce physical mail volumes associated with this contract,
however, these alternative options were rejected at the time of
discussion due to various organisational process factors.
Business cases have previously been presented to CMT
including an extensive report carried out by Digital & Intelligence
Business Analysts, however, decisions around the
recommendations did not progress any further at that time.
Re-tender: Re-tendering with the pan-London Consortium group
is not an option at this stage. Re-tendering as a single Council
is not recommended as there is no guarantee of an improved
commercial outcome with lower volumes.
Classification Part II – Members Only and Not for Publication
Link to associated
report
That this report be declared as exempt from publication as it
involves the disclosure of information in accordance with
Section 100(A) and paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12 (A) to
the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), in that the report
contains information relating to the financial or business affairs
of any particular person (including the authority holding that
information) and that the public interest in withholding the
information outweighs the public interest in disclosing it.
Relevant Officer
contact & Directorate
Vicky Mills – Digital Services Directorate
Zeenat Kapadia – Digital Services Directorate
Michelle Kenyon – Digital Services Directorate
Any interest declared
by the Cabinet
Member(s) /
dispensation granted
N/A
Implementation of decision & scrutiny call-in
[Internal Use only]
When can this
decision be
implemented by
officers?
Officers can implement Cabinet Member decision in this notice only
from the expiry of the scrutiny call-in period which is:
5pm on Tuesday 17 September 2024
However, this is subject to the decision not being called in by
Councillors on the relevant Select Committee. Upon receipt of a
valid call-in request, Democratic Services will immediately advise
the relevant officer(s) and the decision must then be put on hold.
Councillor scrutiny
call-in of this
decision
Councillors on the relevant Select Committee shown in this notice
may request to call-in this decision. The request must be before the
expiry of the scrutiny call-in period above.
Executive Decision Notice – 10 September 2024
This notice is a public document also available to view on the Council's website www.hillingdon.gov.uk
Councillors should use the Scrutiny Call-in App (link below) on their
devices to initiate any call-in request. Further advice can be sought
from Democratic Services if required:
Scrutiny Call-In - Power Apps (secure)
Further information These decisions, where applicable, have been taken under The
Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access
to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.
This is the formal notice by the Council of the above executive
decision, including links to the reports where applicable.
If you would like more information on this decision, please contact
Democratic Services on 01895 250636 or email:
democratic@hillingdon.gov.uk.
Circulation of this decision notice is to a variety of people including
Members of the Council, Corporate Directors, Officers, Group
Secretariats and the Public. Copies are also placed on the
Council’s website.
Democratic Services
London Borough of Hillingdon
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