Key information
Decision type: Assistant Director
Reference code: ADD2144
Date signed:
Decision by: Laura Cordingley Nee Brown, Assistant Director, Team London
Executive summary
Get Scheduled is an online shift booking system used by Team London for its Visitor Welcome Programme. For the Summer of 2017, the Visitor Welcome Programme will deploy 600 Team London Ambassadors to five key tourist locations to enhance the visitor experience in London. There will be approximately 1,350 shifts available for booking and the system enables volunteers to log in and book/manage their own shifts and Team London to oversee the whole process.
The contract that was in place with Get Scheduled Ltd, the provider of the system, has lapsed. The Assistant Director is therefore asked to approve expenditure of £20,000 on a new contract with Get Scheduled for the 2017/18 financial year.
Decision
That the Assistant Director of Team London approves:
1. Expenditure of £20,000 on a new contract with Get Scheduled Ltd for use of its online booking system, covering license fees and the online messaging system.
2. A related exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code so that services can be procured without a competitive tendering exercise.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
The Team London Ambassador Programme and Major Events programme supports volunteers from all backgrounds, helping visitors to London either during peak tourist season or at major events in the city. The Team London Ambassador programme has successfully engaged 600+ volunteers every year since 2012 with a volunteer satisfaction rate of 97%. The programme usually covers nine locations over six weeks of the summer and for 2017 has been altered to accommodate Team London’s involvement in the London 2017 World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Athletics Championships. The London 2017 Ambassador programme will run for three weeks over five locations and in addition the Ambassador programme will be deployed over the duration to both athletics events mentioned above. In addition, Team London, will deliver volunteering support for many major events that come to London such as London Marathon and Ride London.
To support the Ambassador programme, Team London has used an online shift booking since 2014. The contract, however, lapsed in January 2017. Since then, payments have been made to Get Scheduled Ltd on a periodic basis. In order to ensure that Team London continue to have access to the shift booking tool, it is now necessary to enter into a new formal contract.
Full funding has been assigned to deliver this work as referenced in MD2124 for the Visitor Welcome programme.
Exemption from the Contracts and Funding Code
A single source justification is sought to be able to continue with a familiar system for the volunteers and to keep consistency with planning due to short timelines required. The Team London Ambassador programme will be reviewed in 2018 so a short-term contract extension is the more viable option.
Additionally, this solution is already in use and currently holds the information for all volunteers. This data would need to be loaded in to any new system, which would take time/resource that the programme does not have to spare.
A new solution would require training for Team London Staff/volunteers which the programme schedule does not allow for.
Shifts are already planned using Get Scheduled. Moving to an unfamiliar solution at this point in the schedule could lead to user error and logistical issues that may jeopardise the programme.
Using a new solution means that data will be held over two systems. This means reporting will need to be managed from two solutions, which will not only take more time, but risks inaccuracy of information.
The full procurement tender process was completed prior to the original Get Scheduled contract being initiated. Get Scheduled offered good value for money and the flexibility that was required in a solution. The full tender process will be completed again in January, when the programme will complete tenders in several areas.
Completing the tender process at this point will take time and manpower that the programme does not allow for, and would not be justified by the short period required of the contract (until the programme re-tenders in January). Additionally, suppliers may not be prepared to offer the short contract we would require.
With Get Scheduled in place, Team London will be able to deliver another year of successful deployment for both the Team London Ambassador programme and the Major Events programme. Consistency with the online portal should ensure volunteer satisfaction rates remain high.
The Visitor Welcome programme is open to all people who apply. The online scheduling system gives all volunteers equal opportunity to book shifts that are of interest to them. Furthermore, the Get Scheduled volunteer shift booking system includes options for volunteers to add any disability or access needs to their user profiles, this then enables Team London to accommodate those needs.
The Team London programme directly supports the Mayor’s priorities to drive volunteering in the capital and support social integration, bringing Londoners of all walks of life together. Volunteering also helps to improve quality of life, and through training of unemployed volunteers, supports jobs and skills and promotes youth opportunities. In addition, the Visitor Welcome programme supports the #LondonIsOpen campaign supporting visitors to London either during peak tourist season or at major events in the city.
The programme has been informed by consultation with Team London Ambassador Managers and local stakeholders across London.
Risks
5.1 The estimated cost of £20,000 will be funded from The Team London Ambassador Programme budget for 2017-18, held within the Communities and Intelligence Directorate.
6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the assistant director fall within the statutory powers of the Authority to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to the promotion of social development in Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
(c) consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2 In taking the decisions requested of her, the assistant director must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010).
6.3 The procurement of access to the online shift booking system from Get Scheduled is valued at £20,000. Paragraph 9.1 of the GLA's Contracts and Funding Code (the "Code")) requires that the GLA undertake a formal tender process or make a call off from an accessible framework for procurements with a value between £10,000 and £150,000. However, section 10 of the Code also provides that an exemption from this requirement may be justified where a contractor has previous involvement in a specific project or the project involves the continuation of existing work that cannot be separated from the new work. The officers have set out at section 1 above the reasons why the procurement of Get Scheduled falls within the said exemption. Accordingly, the assistant director may approve the exemption, if she be so minded.
Signed decision document
ADD2144 Get Scheduled Licence Fee (signed) PDF