JLIS, now Carillion. What next?

The saga of Croydon Libraries continues…

The background

Croydon outsource libraries, without consulting properly and ignoring the responses of those consulted.

The service in libraries was cut to the bone, before outsourcing, through a major reduction of experience library staff and librarians, major book cull, reduced promotion of events, limited access to working PCs and a system for loans, returns and reservations that has seen library users unable to get access to the books they want or left with heavy fines for books returned but not processed on the system.

The procurement process faltered. The companies applying were all asked to re-tender, adding to the delay and the expense. As predicted, JLIS won the contract, though quite how this win was achieved when Wandsworth chose GLL to run their libraries in this joint procurement process.

Private Eye, 10th January, 2013

The future?

Despite JLIS fighting hard to win the contract, just three weeks in, it came to light that Carillion have taken control of Croydon Libraries, outlined here.

Staff were unaware,

“…members of staff at the libraries were not informed of the sale and only realised a change had taken place after they noticed their emails had changed…” 

John Laing no longer sees libraries as core business,

“Adrian Ewer, chief executive of John Laing, said running libraries no longer fitted the company’s core strategy.”

And Carillion, who have no history of running library services, are trying to get to grips with what it means to run a library service.

 “A spokesman from Carillion said they are undertaking an operational review to gain an understanding of the library service and it will ensure all staff are kept fully informed of any future developments.” 

In the meantime, Croydon residents and the staff in Croydon libraries are left with the shambles.

Private Eye, Issue 1352, 1-12 Nov. 2013

What next?

Contract with JLIS is signed for Croydon libraries

A press release has appeared on the council website today, as follows:

“The future of the borough’s libraries is assured with the signing of an eight-year contract by Croydon Council and John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS).

The new arrangements start on 1 October, when JLIS will take over the running of the service. It represents good value for taxpayers as it will save the authority significant amounts of money at the same time as ensuring all of the council’s 13 libraries remain open and face no reductions in opening hours. 

The contract will see the service undergo a major modernisation programme, involving the introduction of new technology for the benefit of both staff and customers. This will include self-service, wi-fi and the very latest innovations in online resources and e-books. 

JLIS will work closely with local communities to improve the way library services are delivered. There will also be new local business opportunities and good prospects for employment, volunteering and apprenticeships. 

Councillor Tim Pollard, cabinet member for children, families and learning, said: “Signing this contract means that Croydon’s libraries are now safe for the foreseeable future. At a time when all council services are coming under financial scrutiny, it’s great to have negotiated an arrangement that not only keeps all our branches open, but will also see modernisation through the investment that is now planned.” 

Tim Grier, JLIS managing director, said: “I’m delighted that JLIS has secured its second London library contract. This is a fantastic milestone in developing our presence in the library services market and brings the number of library sites managed by JLIS to 24. We look forward to working with the council and local organisations to provide an excellent library service for the benefit of the Croydon community.”“

This decision was taken without a mandate, against the wishes of Croydon residents who responded in huge numbers.

The question now is:

Will JLIS reinstate the service that Croydon Council has systematically eroded over the past two years? For example,

• Will the book stock be replenished and restored to at least the level of two years ago? 

• Will staffing levels be restored, including employing sufficient professional librarians and experienced library staff to see the service on offer back to what it was?  This question is in no way a criticism of the current staff, but made in support of them. Many have struggled to cope with so few colleagues on hand to run the service.

• Will events be promoted?  Only today the council is sending out incorrect posts about the delayed launch of Summer Reading Challenge, totally misleading residents.
  
  This implies the schemes is for children only when the leaflet some have seen makes clear it is for 4 to 19 year olds. And it is not just run on three Mondays in August in Central Library, as per this listing, but every day a library is open and it started today, 29th July, 2013.  For full details please see the full details listed here:

#Croydon gets reading with the Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge!

• Will JLIS put right the poor IT equipment that residents have struggled with for years?

Let’s face it. It couldn’t get much worse!

• And will JLIS reinstate the opening hours reduced in Croydon libraries over the past few years?

The only saving grace is that JLIS say they are keen to work with local communities.  Let’s see if there is any truth in this as the council have so far ignored the Croydon community altogether.

And just what might we expect from JLIS run l.ibraries?  If Hounslow is anything to go by, see this report by a library professional and this report by a library user, the fight for our libraries will go on!

Agenda for #Croydon Libraries Meeting 18/3/13

An extraordinary meeting has been called for Monday 18th March at 6.30pm.  The first any resident knew of this was when the details were circulated via facebook and email, late on Thursday.

To save you trying to find the papers buried on the council website the link is:

https://secure.croydon.gov.uk/akscroydon/users/public/admin/kab14.pl?operation=SUBMIT&meet=3&cmte=EMC&grpid=public&arc=1&utm_source=Library+Main&utm_campaign=3fbede5031-Emergency_Meeting3_16_2013&utm_medium=email

The only items for consideration are:

MATTER FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COUNCILFollowing the receipt of a requisition signed by 13 Members of the Council, the Mayor has agreed that an Extraordinary Meeting of the Council should be held. 
The requisition states: 
“We hereby call an Emergency Council meeting to discuss the follow Motion:
This Council regrets the incompetence of Councillor Fisher’s administration over the failed privatisation of Libraries to John Laing.
It is vital that Croydon Council must be efficient and effective in delivery of front line services.
We agree to match the savings proposed in the John Laing deal by forming a cross party working group to deliver a Co-operative model based on devolved budgets and responsibilities; staff being employed directly through the council; removal of senior management layers; and ending the practice of expensive outsourced contracts for IT and facilities management”

And, you guessed it, the public and the press may be excluded from the meeting.

Camera ResolutionTo resolve that, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

 Irrespective of this emails are circulating furiously, given the short time frame in order to alert residents to this meeting.

Given that this is a really important issue to residents and that local councillors know this, we are left wondering who no one was alerted to this if notice of this meeting was circulated to all councillors over a week ago? That’s what the posting clearly shows. See the issue date at the bottom of the entry, reproduced below.

 As a campaign group we would like to know:

Were you alerted to this meeting by any councillor of any party?
We know of only the Upper Norwood Library Campaign being altered by one councillor and in the hope that they would support Labour’s plans.

Do you support the co-operative model being put forward by Croydon Labour?
We are yet to hear of any Croydon resident who asked for this or who is in support of this.

And

It is unlikely any resident or campaigner will get to speak but a very obvious question remains. Why are Labour proposing to match savings offered by Laing when GLL’s bid was cheaper and provided a better level of service?

Please add your comment to this post.

We’d love to hear what residents really think.

Shh! Croydon Labour calls meeting over Libraries

The following is being circulated to residents and has been passed to Save Croydon Libraries Campaign.  It clearly demonstrates that not only have the Conservative administration bungled the procurement process to outsource libraries, which will have cost Croydon dearly, but that Croydon Labour do not know what they are doing and emulate the Conservatives by acting without a mandate.

When will those elected to serve realise they have a duty to the residents of Croydon to consult and listen?

Residents are being told that,

“Following the statement made by the Cabinet Member Cllr Tim Pollard at the last Council Meeting that John Laing had withdrawn as the likely contenders to take over all the Libraries in Croydon, and that the Croydon Council would be re-tendering…..”

My comment: 
BUT Laing have not withdrawn. They tried to change the terms late on in the process around pension entitlements for staff.  Laing are experienced at procurement and many suspect they took advantage of the poor handling by Croydon.  As Croydon and Laing have long-standing business dealings they waited till the last moment to pull this detail, hoping Croydon Conservative administration would accept the terms. 

The collapse of the process means, under EU procurement law, all the short listed bidders have to be invited to resubmit their bid for the contract and can alter any aspect of this that they choose.  

GLL and Laings are the only two understood to be entering into this process. Given the apparent shoddy treatment of GLL it is surprising that they are willing to work with Croydon

In the meantime,

•  the Croydon library staff have an uncertain future hanging over them as we go back to the drawing board.
• Croydon Council is undertaking the redecoration of libraries out of this year’s budget, leaving staff shunted across the borough while libraries close. 
• The redecoration should have included an IT upgrade but this is on hold as we go back to the drawing board, meaning more disruption to services and more expense as this will need to be undertaken at another point in the future.

The communication continues to detail that an extraordinary meeting is being called by the Croydon Labour group for Monday 18th March at the Town Hall 6.30pm.  The aim outlined is to have a proper discussion on the plans to privatise all the Libraries in Croydon.

My comment:
BUT no-one has thought to communicate this to the Save Croydon Libraries Campaigners.

Given that this has only been received late on Thursday evening it hardly gives any time to prepare for this meeting or for interested residents to make arrangements to attend.

The wording of the motion is as follows,

“We herby [sic] call an Emergency Council Meeting  to discuss the following Motion: 

This Council regrets the incompetence of Councillor Fisher’s administration over the privatisation of Libraries to John Laing. It is vital that Croydon Council must be efficient in delivery of front line services. We agree to match the savings proposed in the John Laing deal by forming a cross party working group to deliver a Co-operative model based on devolved budgets and responsibilities: staff being employed directly through the Council; removal of senior management layers; and ending the practice of expensive outsourced contracts for IT and facilities management” 

My comment: 
Whilst the Upper Norwood Library, jointly-run until recently by Croydon and Lambeth, are now going down the Co-operative model route, this has not been discussed or consulted upon in relation to the 13 Croydon libraries.

Like all library campaign groups, Save Croydon Libraries Campaign has supported Save Upper Norwood Library Campaign in the decisions they have taken for their community.  Campaigners in Lambeth and elsewhere, where Co-operative models are being proposed, are open to the idea but wary of the potential of such a model to deliver a comprehensive and efficient library service.

The big difference is that these communities were consulted. Croydon was not!

No one in the consultation process asked for a Co-operative model and Labour did not choose to consult residents on such a proposal. 

Whilst huge potential savings on back office costs have been identified, including the exorbitant IT contract, heavily loaded on the libraries budget, no one has called for management layers within libraries to be stripped.  Given the cull of staff undertaken it is difficult to see what this would achieve, other than more closed libraries when a single member of staff calls in ill.  We’ve been there.  Let’s not repeat it! 

I have to say that calling a meeting at such short notice, on a model not yet explained, explored or consulted upon, places Labour in a very weak position indeed. But then I hear regularly that Labour are not listening and are not interested in representing parts of the borough, such as the South. 

Croydon residents have fought long and hard to defend their libraries.  They do not want to run them!

The clear message is that we value a professionally run service. This includes not only our qualified librarians but the experienced and knowledgeable library staff – many having worked their way up to management positions through dedication and commitment and others just offering a brilliant service as a long standing member of the team, including our Saturday staff – many of whom have been forced to move on when hours were cut.

Croydon Labour are doing a disservice to the Croydon community by pushing this politically loaded statement through for debate.

Let’s see real engagement.  

Let’s see those elected to serve really listening to the residents.

Let’s see all parties working for a better future for Croydon rather than the petty point scoring to which we are now so accustomed.

Croydon deserves better!

Post submitted by:
Elizabeth Ash, Croydon Libraries Campaigner
….in haste, given no time to consult further because of the lack of notice.

I’d love to hear what other residents think of this proposal.

Labour’s Statement on #Croydon Libraries

We reproduce Labour’s press release which was posted by a member on our Facebook page, along with further clarification and an audio extract for those not present at the meeting.

Croydon Labour Press Release:

TORY LIBRARY COVER-UP AS CONTRACT COLLAPSES

Despite warnings from Labour councillors in previous meeting and widespread public opposition, Cllr Fisher’s Tory administration dream of selling off our much loved libraries lay in tatters last night as Laing’s integrated services spectacularly pulled the plug on Croydon – despite being handed hundreds of millions of pounds of our money as taxpayers from Croydon Conservatives.

Wasting council tax payers money was clearly not a concern as the humiliating u-turn was tucked away at the end of the full council meeting. In a calculated abuse of local democracy, the increasingly controversial Mayor of Croydon refused to allow Labour’s spokesperson for libraries to question the Tory frontbench over the debacle.

The decision to go back to tender to sell off our libraries is one of the biggest issues in Croydon, so one could be forgiven for expecting such an announcement to be given more prominence and urgency. This on the night that Croydon residents are asked to fork out more money than they can afford to pay for the Croydon Tory Council Tax hike.

Labour’s spokesperson for Libraries Councillor Timothy Godfrey said:

“The Tory failure to run this borough properly is now costing tax payers dearly. We need to implement real savings in the library service now and in a responsible way that is not based on the dogma of privatisation. Labour’s plan can be implemented now and can deliver the savings that had been promised by Laings; savings that can be used to benefit local people rather than go into the pockets of Laing’s shareholders.

Labour Leader Councillor Tony Newman said:

“We are calling an emergency meeting of the council to hold to account the Tory front bench and seek a full explanation in light of this latest act of total incompetence and waste of money. Surely 5-years later the full details of the secret deal to build a multi-million pound luxury Tory HQ in so called partnership with Laing’s must be published for all to see.”

For those not at the meeting some points may not be clear from listening to the announcement made, which Cllr Pollard clearly refers to as “a small announcement” You can listen here. 

Bear the following in mind as you listen:

The order of the agenda items were altered, knowing that this announcement would therefore come at the end of the meeting, giving no time for councillors to raise any questions. This appears to be a deliberate ploy to silence any discussion and if you listen the Mayor is quick to state “no questions”. This is followed by the most bullish behaviour from the Mayor, Cllr Eddy Arram, likened by some on twitter to someone barking orders at a dog, as he repeatedly shouted at Cllr Godfrey, “Sit down!” and then “Out!”.  The audio even picks up someone spitting under their breath, in exasperation, ” Get him out of here, now!”

What followed was that Cllr Timothy Godfrey was evicted from the Chambers, his Labour colleagues followed, and the Conservative Councillors are then heard to laugh heartily at agreeing to receive the reports, without challenge, with no one present to object.

There is not only no real democracy in Croydon there is clearly no shame as to how low those who claim to serve us will sink in order to push through their plans and cover up the complete collapse of their procurement process.

You can listen to the full meeting on Croydon Radio.

Croydon’s Libraries farce

At last night’s council meeting Cllr Tim Pollard shocked everyone by announcing that it’s back to the drawing board for libraries.  Here is the transcript of his announcement.

“I do have a small announcement. 

(Cheers from the chamber and the public gallery)

Thank you for that warm welcome I thought I should update the chamber on the latest position with regards to our finalisation  of a new libraries service contract. 

Members will recall that in November 2012, on the recommendation of the corporate services committee,  it was agreed that John Laing Integrated services should be appointed as preferred bidder for our libraries management contract, their solution being the highest score on price and the quality criteria we’d set. 

Preferred bidder status  enables the bidder and the council to confirm commitments in the run-up to the formal signing of the contract. However, during the process of clarifying these final terms with with our preferred bidder, they unexpectedly introduced a late amendment relating to capping possible future pensions contributions. 

Although there is only a very small chance of this impacting on future costs it does change the risk profile and the commercial position. When changes of this kind are put forward we have to follow the EU procurement rules and act accordingly. As a result, and to ensure fairness to all of the  bidders, we have to take a step back in the process to allow all the final bidders time to consider this change and to propose any amendments they wish to their final proposals. 

 It is important for Council to understand that all bidders are at liberty to adjust their final bid in any way they choose, subject to the procurement rules, and can adjust bid elements completely unrelated to the material change which triggered this reopening of the bidding stage, if they wish to. 

Two of the three short-listed bidders have confirmed they will be re-entering the procurement dialogue which is likely to lead to a resubmission of their final bids. Those final bids,  including any changes made, will then be evaluated against our original criteria and we will move forward again to the preferred bidder stage with the highest scoring tenderer. This does not necessarily have to be the same  bidder as was previously confirmed as the preferred bidder. 

Although this does mean a short delay before the contract can be agreed and signed it is necessary in the circumstances. 

The council is committed to keeping all the branches of our libraries open and we are determined to secure the best value for all local taxpayers through our financial negotiations. 

Thank you, Mr Mayor.”

You can listen for yourself and hear the uproar as a result of Cllr Pollard’s “small announcement” here, from 50 minutes in, thanks to Croydon Radio.

After the opposition councillor Timothy Godfrey was denied the right to speak and ejected from the council Chamber his Labour colleagues left, in protest. 

The arrogance of the incumbent administration who begged to serve Croydon is beyond words.

Why so shy, Cllr Pollard?

Cllr Pollard, right, with Croydon Central MP, Gavin Barwell. Neither have spoken up for residents and our libraries. Both actively sought volunteers to take on the service even before the initial consultation had closed.

Cllr Tim Pollard is Croydon Conservative lead on libraries, along with an extensive portfolio including Children, Families and Learning.

He’s slipping up, just like his predecessor, Cllr Sara Bashford, who bumbled her way through the sham consultations and then embarked on a procurement process to outsource Croydon libraries, without mandate. She was caught out making announcements throughout the process,  forgetting she wasn’t supposed to announce the plan up front. Has Cllr Pollard suffering the same fate?

We reproduce below his statement, published in December 2012, presumably written before the call in of the decision to Scrutiny by not just the opposition but by both political parties.

We reproduce below the text in full from Cllr Pollard’s glossy Step-Up document, the new version of Council Member Bulletins. At a time when services are being savagely cut and we face an increase in council tax it is unbelievable that Croydon could add more gloss to their publications.

This one was released in December 2012. You can view the glossy publication here.

“New library contract near to completion
Changes will start to be seen in Croydon libraries from next April, once a new organisation steps in to run the service. 

John Laing Integrated Services Ltd has been agreed by the council as the preferred bidder to run library services, and details of their proposals should be released in the next few weeks. 

The new contract guarantees that the council will retain the freehold of all its library buildings.
Current levels of service will not only be maintained, but, where possible, book stocks will be increased, facilities will be upgraded with (sic) and opportunities will be sought to access a greater range of public services from local libraries. 

There will also be far more possibilities for making links with other organisations and businesses, with the potential to generate income or create training opportunities. 

The library network will continue to look for more opportunities to involve members of the community and create links with the voluntary sector through friends groups, community events and social and learning activities.”

So we ask…

Why is it that no details have been released, as promised?  The end of February 2013 is hardly a few weeks on from December 2013.

Is the delay due to legal wrangling? Have GLL challenged the decision? It seems clear that they were not fairly treated and offered best value to Wandsworth.

Are JLIS less than happy with the additional constraints placed on them by the scrutiny process?

And why are Conservative councillors, such as Maria Gatland, so ill-informed that, even having shown enough interest to call the decision into Scrutiny now can’t quite muster the effort to ascertain and articulate the outcome?

Not one of Cllr Gatland’s colleagues has jumped in to help her out and nearly a month on @ElizCro is still waiting for her councillor to uncover the facts.

And does Cllr Pollard think residents will really be won over by claims of maintaining the current service?

Residents have noticed the huge loss of staff, decline in service and extensive book cull as our library service has been eroded since not long after the initial consultation occurred. And, Cllr Pollard, we’d love to know what libraries will be upgraded with as you fail to say. Dreaded self-service machines, no doubt.

Only a month away from the proposed hand over and  residents and councillors are still kept in the dark over the plans for our libraries.This is certainly giving all the appearances of either a deal that has gone terribly wrong or a deal that Croydon are none too proud of.

Is there anyone who has any real information? Get in touch.  We’d love to share!

Library image used in Croydon Council document – Certainly not any one of Croydon’s 13 libraries

Cllr Pollard’s Q&A on Croydon Libraries

The following Q&A was received by a resident from Cllr Tim Pollard in early December and is reproduced here, in full. 

Croydon is reticent to announce that Laings is the preferred bidder and at least one local councillor still feigns ignorance. 

It also worth noting that Cllr Pollard makes another broken promise here.  We’ve highlighted it in red.  Not only have Croydon not announced the savings they claim this will make they have not announced the bidder publicly. Some suspect this may be because the process is still being challenged.

Have other bidders been treated fairly? If challenged, this could lead to a costly legal challenge.

And how can Croydon really effectively judge the service another provider offers when they are incapable of seeing the deterioration under their control?  

Q&A CROYDON LIBRARY PROCUREMENT

Why couldn’t this service continue to be delivered in house?

Croydon Council, like all councils, has seen a significant reduction in its income as a result of the economic climate and the national requirement to reduce the structural budget deficit. Croydon could not continue to deliver a service in house at the same levels as today and make the savings that are necessary to meet

overall council budget requirements.

The alternative to bringing in an external provider would have been to cut services, potentially leading to the closure of branches.

Are you going to be shutting libraries to deliver this service in future?

No: a key objective of the outsourcing of the library service was to maintain of the current network of libraries. This contract will enable us to achieve this objective.

How did the Council choose its Preferred Bidder and why was this different to Wandsworth Borough Council’s Preferred Bidder?

The Council, in conjunction with Wandsworth Borough Council, ran a thorough and rigorous evaluation procedure. It was made clear throughout the procurement process that the two Councils intended to award separate contracts and therefore Bidders bid for each Council’s contract separately submitting two distinct tenders. The tenders submitted by each Bidder differed significantly between the Councils.

The Councils formed a Joint Project Team which included officers from both Councils. This Joint Project Team evaluated each tender received for both boroughs against pre-determined and published evaluation criteria and each sub-criterion was scored. For each borough a separate score was awarded to each Bidder: in other words, it was quite possible for a bidder to score highly for one borough but poorly for the other. As a result of this evaluation process the different preferred bidders were identified for each Council. The Joint Project Team made recommendations based on the results of this process.

The Joint Project Team comprised Officers with a wide range of technical and professional experience and qualifications from both Croydon and Wandsworth including ICT, HR, FM and Legal Services and all the evaluation scores were agreed within the team.

The team also received advice from external specialist advisers throughout the procurement and evaluation phases.

Why don’t you publish bidders’ tenders?

It is standard procurement practice not to publish tenders. There are a number of reasons for this. From the participating organisation’s point of view, participation in the tendering process costs them a great deal of money and their submissions are unique to them and covered by intellectual property law. They would not want their work and ideas to be freely available to their competitors or other potential

customers.

From the council’s point of view, the publishing of tender submissions may impact on the competitiveness of the process as companies may chose not to bid if their tenders would be made public. It may also reduce quality of the tenders proposed, with Bidders less willing to reveal any commercial “edge” because of the risk of this being made available to their competitors. If this were the case it would have a negative effect on any procurement exercise that the council partakes in and result in poorer value to the public.

We are also precluded from making tenders public because of our legal obligation under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) to keep Bidders solutions confidential and not to reveal the information to any other participant or to reveal the information generally. The purpose of this is to keep the integrity of the procurement process and to encourage Bidders to be as open and innovative as possible with their solutions.

Is the preferred bidder the best value for the council and taxpayers?

By “best value” we mean which tender was the “most economically advantageous” to the Council as this was the criteria which were used to evaluate the tenders. The evaluation took into account price, technical, quality and legal proposals. John Laing Integrated Services Limited submitted the most economically advantageous tender for Croydon.

What was the point of running the joint procurement exercise when you have appointed different bidders?

By having officers from two councils assessing the bids jointly we not only brought a wealth of experience and quality assurance to the evaluation, but it also created economies in the process that saved money for each authority. For example, the total bill for external legal advice was roughly the same as it would have been for one borough, but under this procurement it was split between the two boroughs.

Whilst the procurement was run jointly it was made very clear that the councils might not award both contracts to one bidder.

Why was GLL acceptable to Wandsworth and yet you appointed JLIS?

Whilst the procurement was run jointly it was made very clear that the Councils might award the contracts to different bidders. Each tenderer was required to submit a separate bid for Croydon and Wandsworth. GLL’s bid was the most economically advantageous offer for Wandsworth. JLIS submitted the most economically advantageous offer for Croydon.

What were the differences between the bids for London Borough of Wandsworth and London Borough of Croydon?

Because of our legal obligations under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) to keep Bidderssolutions confidential and not to reveal the information to any other participant or to reveal the information generally, we cannot reveal the details of bids nor the major differences. However, we can say that GLL’s bid for Wandsworth’s libraries was compliant and offered the most economically advantageous bid for them in terms of the price and quality standards offered. In the case of Croydon’s libraries, it was the JLIS bid which was compliant, and was the most economically advantageous bid for us in terms of the price and quality standards offered.

Rumours in the local press and blog sites suggest that the cheapest bid for this contract was disqualified. What efforts did you make to ensure that the lowest price bid was acceptable?

Because of the duty we have to maintain commercial confidentiality (outlined above) we cannot discuss individual bids, but we can discuss the principles of the evaluation process. The evaluation took into account both price and quality aspects. At the final tender stage the price element of the bids carried the more substantial weight in the evaluation, making the price the more important part of the evaluation.

However the Council also wished to ensure that a quality service was to be delivered to residents. Whilst quality received a lower percentage weighting than price at the final tender stage, the officers set strict quality thresholds for tenders which, if they were not met, could give rise to the tender being rejected. The reason for this was that the officers had provided Bidder’s with detailed feedback on their initial proposals at length during the dialogue phase and entered into dialogue with the bidders around any issues arising. 

Therefore if these final‐stage thresholds were not met it was felt that the bidder would not be able to meet the Council’s requirements.

Did all the bids received include the provision of professional librarians and sufficient local management oversight?

The tender documentation requires that the Contractor is to:

‐ provide suitably qualified and experienced staff to deliver and develop the Services and to maintain or increase standards of delivery and quality.

‐ provide sufficient management, professional and frontline operational staff to deliver and develop the services and to maintain or increase standards of delivery. Managerial and professional staff will have appropriate qualifications and experience.

Any bid which did not meet the minimum required standard under this evaluation criteria, for example by not providing qualified librarians or sufficient management capacity, could be given a score that could lead to the rejection of their bid and all bidders were aware of this.

Is it possible for a bidder who “finishes bottom” to be awarded a contact, as suggested in a local blog site?

No, the process ensures that the winning bidder is the one who offers the most economically advantageous bid for the Council in terms of set criteria including quality and price.

Was a bidder rejected because they are not qualified to run a library service, as suggested on the same site?

No. The first stage of the selection process tests bidders’ ability to run a library service and no bidder would have got through to this final stage if they were not qualified to run a library service. However, it is possible for a bidder to be disqualified at the final stage if they scored sufficiently poorly on one of the evaluation sub‐criterion.

Is Upper Norwood Joint Library part of the outsourcing (sic)

Upper Norwood Joint Library has never been part of the outsourcing of Croydon library services. The council’s approach to Upper Norwood Joint Library was agreed by cabinet in September. Officers are working hard on the implementation of the community management model for the library.

How will the council ensure that the quality library service currently received is maintained when the contract is let?

The winning bidder will be contractually obliged to provide the services to meet the Council’s requirements in accordance with the council’s specification and the way the bidder planned to meet the need through its proposed methodology.

Rigorous and robust monitoring is being put in place in place and there will be regular and frequent checks and visits made by the council to ensure that all standards continue to be met. We are very confident that the contractor will deliver an excellent service, but the council also has the ability to impose substantial

penalties if performance does not meet the required standards.

How much did this procurement exercise cost (sic)

The total cost to date is approximately £94,000, which includes external legal costs, staff costs and some actuarial fees. The largest element of cost was the external legal advice.

The legal costs would have been approximately double this if we had not conducted the procurement jointly with Wandsworth.

Why was this decision taken at Corporate Services Committee rather than going back to Cabinet?

Corporate Services Committee is the council committee which reviews all contracts valued at over £500k before making recommendations of award to the relevant Cabinet Member. Cabinet can also award contracts where necessary, but this is unusual. In either case, due to the issues of commercial confidentiality alluded to above, the discussion would take place in closed session. The decision to move to preferred bidder status can be called in to the Scrutiny committee for review and this meeting will take place on 5 December.

The decision to outsource library services in principle was taken in open session in September 2011, following an earlier review of the branch network, which was also discussed in Cabinet as well as being called in for review by the Scrutiny Committee.

What benefits for residents and library users will there be?

Details of the savings that are expected to be made will be formally confirmed in the next few weeks, however they look to be substantial, and we expect the cost of the procurement exercise to be recouped within the first few months of the new contract.

What we can continue to assure residents is that no branches will be lost, and the new contract also guarantees that the council will retain the freehold of all its library buildings. Current levels of service will be maintained and improved, with branches opening for the same number of hours as they do now.

There will be a complete refresh of ICT services for the library service, improved service for the public including the availability of WIFI (currently not available in branch libraries). There will be an increase in the book fund (money spent on buying books). There will be participation in new initiatives e.g. the National

Reading Offer.

The library service will continue to look for more opportunities to involve members of the community and create further links with the voluntary sector through friends groups, fundraising events and social and learning activities.

Croydon Libraries and Laing. Have your say..

Are you happy for John Laing Integrated Services to take over the running of all Croydon Libraries?

Respond to our poll on the right and please share your thoughts by posting…

Money to burn on gloss

Why would Croydon redecorate libraries immediately before they plan to hand them over to John Laing Integrated Services (JLIS) and why are they being shut for such lengthy periods in order to do the redecoration in libraries that have been left neglected for so many years?

JLIS will be responsible for the redecoration and upkeep in all but a few of our libraries in the future if they are awarded the contract.

Details of closures are as follows:

Bradmore Green Library

Closing 4pm Saturday 2 February
Re-opening 9.30am Monday 18 February

Coulsdon Library

Closing 4pm Saturday 2 March.
Re-opening 9am Tuesday 2 April

Purley Library

Closing 4pm Saturday 2 February
Re-opening 9am Monday 4 March

Sanderstead Library

Closing 4pm Saturday 2 March
Re-opening 9am Tuesday 2 April

Shirley Library

Closing 4pm Saturday 2 March
Re-opening 9am Monday 25 March

South Norwood Library

closing 4pm Saturday 23 February
Re-opening 9am Monday 11 March

How much money must Croydon burn before the 5th April?

Money that could have been used for essential services.