Waste services technical advisor for Cornwall Council

SLR has provided expert waste advisory support to Cornwall Council since 2017, covering the procurement of waste collection and cleansing services and service changes

Challenge

The council required an environmental services procurement specialist to advise on the most appropriate route to market, devise a procurement plan focused on meeting the requirement for a new contract, and critically review the procurement and contractual documentation that had been developed internally.

Specific guidance was required to ensure that a compliant and efficient procurement exercise was followed, and that the process achieved maximum competition and therefore the best value for money.

Solution

SLR’s support at the procurement stage was split into two phases, the first of which comprised:

• Review of the council’s timescale for the proposed competitive dialogue (CD) process, providing advice and recommendations regarding any proposed changes.
• Review of draft procurement and legal documentation developed by the council, to ensure that it provided an appropriate framework to facilitate effective dialogue with bidders.
• Design of the CD plan for agreement with the council in preparation for dialogue with bidders.

Phase two of the project involved leading the council team through the CD process to ensure the best outcomes for residents. This comprised of:

• Reviewing and evaluating tenders and agreeing, with the council’s team, a dialogue strategy for bidder-specific engagement, with particular focus on technical and commercial aspects of the tenders received.
• Providing strategic support in assessing readiness to close the dialogue stage.
• Contributing to the evaluation of the final tenders.

Impact

SLR’s technical advice throughout the procurement process led to the mobilisation of a high quality service, to meet the key objectives of the council.

SLR was subsequently retained by the council to provide ongoing technical advice, including support through contract mobilisation, development of contract variations and the review of existing services to develop new business cases for service change.

“We have received exceptional technical and professional advice and support from the SLR team. We found all members to be highly competent, supportive, and able to seamlessly integrate with our teams. Their expertise and collaborative approach have been invaluable to our projects”

Verity Palk - Waste and Environmental Contracts Team Leader, Cornwall Council