Working with contractors

The council has a history of contracting out services where we are confident that this will ensure provision of high quality services and is the most cost effective option.  We currently have five large contracts in place as shown in the table below. 

Current Large Contracts

Managing contractor performance is essential for delivering our objectives and targets.  Since a high proportion of the council's services are outsourced (approximately half the revenue budget is spent on our main contractors), we can only deliver an excellent service to our residents if our contractors are excellent.  We feel that working jointly with contractors to review performance regularly is essential.  The council's process for managing contractor performance focuses on continuous improvement and action planning.  The council realises that the success of the framework depends on contractors and the council working together to set and review realistic, jointly agreed and measurable targets.  The review process consists of four dimensions:

• performance measured against key performance targets (KPTs)
• customer satisfaction with the total service experience
• council satisfaction as client
• feedback from the contractor

The performance of each of our contractors is reviewed regularly by a client manager, and annual reviews are carried out by the Scrutiny Committee.  All of these reports are available on our website.

We have a number of other contracts for goods and services of varying values.  We procure these services in accordance with our Contracts Procedure Rules (134.8 KB)  and procurement process which means that we achieve best value for the price we pay.