To direct award of contract to Print UK for the provision of specialist printing for the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner and the unscheduled UK Parliamentary General Election (UKPGE).

It is vital to the delivery of the election that voters can receive the information that they need, without errors, in an accessible format and within time for them to take necessary action in relation to their vote. The specification requirements have been developed based on statutory guidance which provide an overview of the legal requirements relating to poll cards, postal vote stationary and ballot papers as well as consideration to potential process changes due to come into effect during the next twelve months. Meeting these requirements is a key performance standard for the Returning Officer. Due to a limited number of suppliers in the marketplace capable of delivering the required specification the procurement method adopted was a three quote comparison process with three suppliers invited to provide quotations. The details of the quotations received which were used to evaluate submissions and select a supplier has been detailed in the restricted Appendix A.

Undertaking all printing using in-house services: There is not the required level of expertise or knowledge available deliver the specialist print services that are legally required. The in-house provision is also insufficiently resourced to handle the volume of printing required for such a project.

Do Nothing: The Police Area Returning Officer will be seeking confirmation that printing contract arrangements are in place in preparation for the PCC election and the Electoral Commission will undertake similar surveys on preparedness. Delays to establishing a contractual relationship will likely impact on the availability of suppliers and see an increase to the pricing structure. There is a risk that because the Prime Minister is able to call a UK Parliamentary General Election (UKPGE) at any time, without a contract in place the service will loose precious time on preparations during what is likely to be a short timetable.

Failure to appoint a supplier capable of delivering the required statutory specification could cause serious
financial and reputational damage to the council. Supplier liaison to prepare and deliver these printing elements at the required specification would mitigate this risk.

The upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner and UK Parliamentary elections are funded by the UK Government and claims for fees and charges for the election are administered through the Elections Claims Unit, which is part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). The new contract has been assessed against actual costs from recent local elections, noting the inflationary costs and increasing postage costs. These increases are affecting the delivery of services nationally and therefore will be contained within tolerance levels for the Elections Claims Unit to reimburse actual costs. The indicated costs in restricted Appendix A relate to the preparation and printing of pollcards, postal vote packs and ballot paper books.

In addition further delivery charges will apply for the preferred supplier to directly deliver poll cards and postal vote packs - this has been deemed to be a direct charge passported via the supplier. This is considered a special project with significant postal costs which are passported to the authority via the supplier. Those costs have therefore been excluded from the contract comparison costs.

Rina Sandhu
03/01/24

Elaine Browne
19/12/23

Equalities. An Equality Impact Assessment will be considered as part of the Council’s overall planning to deliver these elections. Accessible format and timely delivery were key considerations in the specification to meet statutory guidance.

Climate change/sustainability. The legal requirements for delivery of these elections allows very little scope to reduce or impact the emissions of CO2. Each of the options considered involves the same level of service / impact due to the consistent level of printing and movement of supplies required.

Data Protection/GDPR. Initial Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) screening undertaken but established that there was no change to the nature, scope, context or purposes of existing processing activities.

Any decision to incur expenditure or the making of a saving of £50,000 or more (revenue or capital) (N.B. up to £500,000 as this would then require Cabinet approval)