FM2511 Direct Award Mechanical & Electrical - Planned and Reactive Maintenance

The need for a direct award arises from genuinely unforeseeable and urgent circumstances that fall outside the Council’s control. The situation has not been caused by any deficiency in the Council’s planning, contract management, or procurement activity, and therefore meets the statutory conditions for use of the extreme and unavoidable urgency provisions under Paragraph 13 of Schedule 5, of the Procurement Act 2023.

The Council is required to bring the current Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) contract which covers all planned and reactive maintenance for the Council's key assets, to an early conclusion. The M&E contract underpins essential statutory compliance, building safety, and the continued operation of critical systems across the Council’s estate. The early termination of the contract creates an immediate and unavoidable need to secure alternative provision to prevent service interruption, maintain legal compliance, and protect health and safety.

Running a full competitive procurement at this point would introduce delays that would result in gaps in statutory servicing, reduced resilience of critical building systems, and unacceptable operational and safety risks. While a competitive process will be undertaken to appoint a long term contractor, it cannot be completed within the time available without exposing the Council to material risk. The urgency arises from the need to ensure continuity of essential services and is not attributable to any action or omission by the Council.

To maintain continuity of essential services, the Council proposes to implement time limited interim arrangements for an 18 month period through a direct award permitted under the extreme and unavoidable urgency procurement provisions. These interim arrangements include:

• Main M&E Provider — Appointment of an interim contractor to deliver the majority of Mechanical and Electrical functions.

This exemption relates specifically to the proposed direct award to Wessex Electrical Services Ltd. With specialist workstreams separated and retained by existing expert providers, Wessex Electrical is recommended as the principal interim M&E provider. Wessex has previously delivered M&E services successfully as a subcontractor prior to the 2024 contract, currently provides reliable services to Housing, and holds the technical accreditations required to mobilise at pace and maintain compliant service delivery.

Wessex Electrical also offers continuity of expertise, having previously delivered elements of the M&E service under the former Kier contract before the current contract commenced. Although this is not a reinstatement of the previous arrangement, their historic involvement provides proven familiarity with the Council’s estate, systems, and operational requirements.

The urgency therefore arises solely from the need to ensure continuity of critical statutory and safety related services following the early conclusion of the existing contract. The proposed direct award represents a lawful, proportionate, and strictly necessary measure to safeguard essential M&E functions during the transition period, consistent with the requirements of Schedule 5.

Regarding the foreseeability of the need to end the current contract early, the Council could not reasonably have initiated a competitive procurement in advance, as the requirement to end the contract early was not known with sufficient certainty. This proposal is for a relatively short period of time to allow for a full competitive procurement to be undertaken.

This temporary 18 month arrangement is designed to:

• maintain statutory compliance
• avoid gaps in essential servicing
• ensure operational stability across the estate

A full competitive procurement will be undertaken to appoint a long term contractor to commence from October 2027.