ALMO launches tender for £4m legal services framework agreement

Berneslai Homes, an arm’s length management organisation in Barnsley, has launched a procurement exercise for a £4m legal services framework agreement.

The four-year agreement will cover two lots worth £2m each excluding VAT. There is also an option to extend for a further two years.

The first lot relates to general legal services, including property and litigation, employment and pensions, health and safety, corporate governance, commercial, and business restructuring.

The second lot is for housing management legal services. This includes services relating to anti-social behaviour, tenancy management, changes in legislation, maintenance issues, access issues, gas warrants, leaseholder advice, leaseholder tribunal, and equality and diversity.

Berneslai Homes, which manages 19,500 properties on behalf of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, said it envisaged one to three suppliers being appointed to each lot.

The ALMO has also reserved the right for a range of other public bodies to access the concluded framework agreement.

It added that the option for a two-year extension would allow the appointed suppliers “adequate time to recoup their initial investment in establishing the processes and procedures that will deliver the improvements that the clients are seeking through this framework, including training of their staff to new ways of working”.

Berneslai Homes added: “The partnering objectives that form part of this framework may only be capable of being realised over longer periods of time than four years, not least because a number of local authorities will only start using this framework when their existing arrangements expire.”