Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision:

To authorise the Arts & Recreation department to invite competitive tenders for services for forthcoming Folk Festivals.

The services to be tendered comprise:

                                    Term                   Estimated Contract Value

Power & Lighting                3 years           £260,000

Marquees                      1 year            £80,000

Online Ticketing              1 year           £18,000 per annum (£54,000 total) 

(with extension options for a further 2 years)

Decision of Exec Cllr for Arts, Sport and Public Places:

             I.      Authorised the Head of Arts & Recreation to tender for contractors to provide services for the Folk Festival. 

          II.      Authorised the Head of Arts and Recreation to award the contract(s) to the most favourable tender(s), in accordance with pre-determined selection criteria.

Reason for the Decision:

             I.      The current contracts for Folk Festival provision for marquees and power & lighting have expired. 

          II.      The contract for online ticketing will expire after 2012 but an early procurement is required to ensure that tickets for the 2013 event can be sold from August 2012. 

       III.      A contract of 3 years is recommended for power & lighting but will include a clause to allow us to end the contract sooner if required. 

      IV.      A contract of only one year is to be offered to marquees to accommodate possible changes to the Folk Festival specification as a result of anticipated re-development of the propagation centre at Cherry Hinton Hall. 

         V.      A contract for online ticketing services will be offered for one year initially, with an option to extend for up to a maximum of three years in total.  This will allow for flexibility to change the ticketing structure if desired for future festivals, which may require a different service to be provided.  An annual extension option will enable a fast contracting process if no significant changes are required to the specification. 

Any alternative options considered and rejected:

Not applicable.

Scrutiny Considerations:

The committee received a report from the Arts Development Manager regarding contracts for the Supply of Services to the Folk Festival. Members were satisfied with the proposals.

The Scrutiny Committee considered and endorsed the recommendations in the report by 6 votes to 0.

The Executive Councillor for Arts, Sport and Public Places approved the recommendations.

Conflicts of interest declared by the Executive Councillor (and any dispensations granted)

N/A