THE DILEMMA facing one London borough highlights the conundrum for the entire industry. When to re-let your contract? Should we act as quickly as possible, to seize the lower tender prices on offer before demand picks up again? Or should we not be too hasty and lock ourselves into something for another five to ten years, but wait to give all the many exciting new models full consideration?
Harrow council wanted to extend its existing highways contract to give it time to consider the various radical models floating round. There are mooted joint pan-London contracts that could offer big savings. There are alternatives such as the 'thin client' model that strips council overheads right back. These ideas could offer huge benefits, but are still new and relatively untested, and involve huge change.
Harrow has bought itself a bit of time by extending its current contract by nine months, which still gives it a rollercoaster ride of a timetable - the re-procurement starts now, and there's less than a year to go.
Some authorities have already started on the road to a major transformation. They are trying to balance the competing imperatives of devoting time and thought to an open-minded approach to solutions being given by providers offered by the competitive dialogue process with a need to swiftly implementing a change that will see efficiency savings starting to flow in the next financial year or two. Cheshire East, for instance, has only had from December until next week to assess the detailed proposals from three providers under a competitive dialogue.
It's a difficult balancing act. Councils stand to be accused of undue haste or unnecessary delay. They may play safe and make some savings, but not nearly enough to protect the frontline - missing opportunities to join other contracts. They may risk a hastily-pursued procurement that does not deliver against expectations. There are no simple answers.
But councils must look to the long-term, and try to resist the temptation to simply think about the costs and benefits in the next couple of years. That probably makes waiting and giving greater thought to the new contract models the more sensible option in the long-run. But this advice is easy for me to give - I don't have overwhelming pressure from local politicians to deliver savings, right now!
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