Description of how these justifications apply
The Contracting Authorities consider that the circumstances for direct award under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 apply.
The proposed award relies upon the Schedule 5 justification relating to the absence of competition for technical reasons and the absence of a reasonable alternative or substitute.
The Authorities have undertaken a detailed options appraisal which considered:
- amendment of existing contractual arrangements;
- renewal of existing arrangements;
- competitive procurement of an alternative solution; and
- a new joint contract with Midland HR Ltd.
The Authorities concluded that:
- the iTrent platform currently supports critical payroll and workforce processes;
- both authorities have invested significantly in configuration, workflow automation, recruitment functionality, payroll integration, employee self-service and workforce management functionality;
- substantial business process integration has been developed over many years;
- replacement would require significant migration activity, implementation resource, retraining and redevelopment of existing functionality;
- replacement would create significant technical, operational and service continuity risks;
- alternative solutions have been considered but no reasonable alternative or substitute solution has been identified capable of achieving the required outcomes within an acceptable timeframe and without disproportionate cost, disruption and implementation risk.
The Authorities therefore consider the proposed direct award to be lawful, proportionate and consistent with the Procurement Act 2023.