Implementation of a Covid secure scheme for businesses in Hertfordshire

This Award Notice is being published to inform of an award of a contract.

Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) is relying on regulation 32(2)(c) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 in making this award without prior publication. Regulation 32(2)(c) permits such an award: "insofar as is strictly necessary where, for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive procedures with negotiation cannot be complied with.'

The extreme urgency relates to the need to ensure businesses are accredited now and as they re-open. If HCC fails to take steps to urgently ensure high levels of compliance, there is a real risk that transmissions will rise and put the county at risk of further local restrictions causing significant damage to the local economy and risking further negative impacts on residents. The need to procure this service was unforeseeable given the fast moving nature of the COVID-19 response. A tender process would delay the implementation to a point when most businesses will already be opening. In respect of the requirement in Regulation 32(4) that the circumstances invoked to justify extreme urgency must not be attributable to the contracting authority, HCC considers that the urgency is due to the need to respond to public health risks and the timetable in the Government's reopening roadmap, neither of which are within the control of HCC.

A business accreditation scheme known as 'Safe To Trade' is currently offered by Shield Safety Group Ltd, an environmental health consultancy company with the capacity and staff to quickly roll out their scheme in any given area.

Shield Safety Group Ltd would operate and deliver this scheme on the Council's behalf thereby relieving the local authority of large scale inspection burdens whilst at the same time maintaining confidence in standards and helping to reduce transmission of Covid 19 by achieving greater compliance with set guidelines.

If evaluation of the pilot proves successful, the scheme will be rolled out across Hertfordshire in an expeditious way. In expanding the scheme county-wide as quickly as possible during the Government's roadmap it will be important to maintain a consistent high-quality auditing process, public communications and joint branding approach that will be established before and during the pilot phase. Furthermore, to ensure the scheme will be effective county-wide, it is essential to provide continuity to businesses and consumers by maintaining the working processes with the one provider partnered with during the initial pilot and not risk confusing businesses and consumers with the inevitable changes in auditing and communications that would result. For these reasons the provider which carries out the pilot also needs to carry out the county-wide scheme.

Please refer to 'Section 5 - Additional Text' for further information.

Additional information: Hertfordshire Trading Standards have been urgently requested by the Hertfordshire Health Protection Board to implement a Covid secure business accreditation scheme that seeks to impact on transmission rates of Covid 19 in supermarkets, grocers, hospitality and other non-essential retail businesses. The scheme will ensure businesses are adhering to a consistent set of Covid 19 prevention standards and aims to improve consumer confidence in those businesses.

This project implements a pilot 'Covid secure' accreditation scheme in retail shops, hospitality and other non-essential businesses in Hertfordshire in Broxbourne.

There is evidence to suggest that transmission in supermarkets and food retail remains a problem and with the Government's roadmap to re-opening other hospitality and retail businesses from Spring 2021, there is an urgent need to ensure that businesses already open are compliant to a consistent set of standards and that for those due to re-open that they too are compliant and that consumers will have the confidence to use them when permitted. This would be achieved by registration, auditing and inspection of member businesses.

The arrangement would initially be for a pilot to be conducted in Broxbourne and if evaluation proves successful to continue to roll out the scheme across Hertfordshire. The contract end date stated above includes the provision to roll out the scheme across Hertfordshire. If the pilot is unsuccessful then the contract will be terminated by HCC.

The length of the contract is expected to be relatively short particularly if transmission rates fall and mitigation measures required by businesses reduce later in the year. The arrangement is therefore restricted to what is absolutely necessary.

The value of the initial pilot is £213,000. The total awarded value is for the total contract value, should the scheme be rolled out to the whole of the County of Hertfordshire.

Please refer to 'Section 3 - Description' for further details