Cabinet will be discussing the future delivery of the housing repairs maintenance and investment (RMI) contract at their meeting on Monday (18 December).

Osborne was granted a seven-year contract for the service in 2017, with the option to extend for another three years. The initial end date is 1 December 2024.

Cabinet is being asked to approve a short extension of four months to the current provider, up to 31 March 2025.

They are also asked to approve a soft market testing exercise for the future procurement of services and agree to receive a future report by September 2024, to decide whether to insource cleaning and customer contact services. 

The extension period would ensure there is time to re-procure the services and have an effective transition and any new contracts would start in the new financial year. 

Cabinet has four options to consider, with option four being recommended. 
1. A further three-year extension of the current contract. 
2. Procure a single integrated contract.
3. Procure a single integrated maintenance and investment contract but separately procuring specialist works for compliance activities such as water management, gas, and electrical compliance.
4. Procurement based on a more traditional multi-contract approach with selective internalisation of customer service and cleaning functions, along with a balanced approach to repair and investment services to spread risk and operational profit and to reduce risk across more than one contract placement.

Councillor Paul Kelly, lead member for highways, housing and transport, said: “We need to ensure our repairs and maintenance contract is delivering a responsive and customer-oriented service. 

“Customer satisfaction needs to improve, and the current contract no longer reflects the priorities of the council for service delivery around customer contact and cleaning and estate services.

“By going out to procurement, we can look to get the best service for our residents, speed up some processes and give them more satisfaction with the service they receive.”

The papers can be found online.