The decision looks to deliver a more flexible approach to recruiting temporary staff to the Council and its companies. Having a variety of suppliers will cover a greater range of the market and should help improve the chances of efficiently filling hard to source roles.

This decision has the potential to generate savings in the region of £1.5 million pounds over 5 years, based on historical spend and usage.

The decision is to approve the award of 4 contracts across 2 lots.

Lot 1 - Professional and Business Support - Reed Specialist Recruitment Ltd (£1.8m per annum).

Lot 2 - Housing, Property and Regulatory Services – Hays Specialist Recruitment Ltd, Opus People Solutions Ltd and Matchtech Group (UK) Ltd. (£900k per annum).

The decision was made to support the recommendation to award contracts following a compliant open tender process.

17 bids were received across the 2 lots and the winning suppliers were the result of a full and detailed evaluation process.

Caroline Green, Chief Executive.

Decision taken in consultation with the Head of Business Improvement, Head of Legal and the Head of Financial Services and the then Cabinet Member for Customer Focused Services.