Decision details

North Devon Council has been part of the Devon WAN Partnership since 2011.

We have Devon WAN links in the following 7 sites:

a. Brynsworthy Environment Centre
b. Lynton House
c. North Devon Crematorium
d. Woodlands Enterprise Centre
e. Barnstaple Museum
f. The Ilfracombe Centre
g. The Amory Centre

This partnership and associated links have enabled us to connect to other authorities that joined the group Mid Devon for the Building Control and a shared connection into the secure PSN.

Since 2016 Devon County Council have taken the procurement lead for this partnership and the partners have had the opportunity to contract with their chosen supplier.

DCC have conducted a Further competition from the CCS Framework RM3808 for a contractual term 1 + 1, providing a reduction in annual costs for NDDC.

The new contract with Capita will commence on 01 September 2021.

It is essential that all partners remain with the same supplier to enable these connections to continue.

The supplier has advised that it might not be possible to arrange for our elements of work to be published on the Crown Commercial Services portal in time for the new contract to start on 01 September 2021, hence this Urgent decision request.

Financial Implications: This 2 year extension will result in an annual revenue saving of £4,880.00, as remaining with our existing supplier will negate the need for any professional services for installation and replacement of routers in all sites. Costs all come within budget.

To request a waiver to procurement rules and authorise NDDC to extend our contract with our incumbent supplier in line with Devon County Council for WAN links for an additional 2 years, required to enable continued partnership working and connection to the Public Sector Network (PSN).

Devon County Council have been carrying out proof of concepts for SD-WANS (Software-Defined Network) but these pilots have not been as successful as they would have hoped, resulting in the need to stay with the more traditional WAN solution that we currently have in place.