Management Information Sheet

Schools Courier Contract Review Consultation

MI Sheet TypeFeedback
To Be Completed By: 19/11/2018
MI Number:143/18
Publication Date:26/10/2018 12:00:00
LA Contact:CS e-Publishing Team (01603 224282)
Audience:All Schools

Schools Courier Contract Review Consultation

The current schools courier contract is due to cease on 31 March 2019 and the re-tendering process is about to commence.

An audit of the previous 2 monthly school courier runs has been undertaken and the findings show that the current contract is no longer cost effective for the usage made of it, and we are therefore proposing to end the Schools Courier contract with CitySprint, meaning there will be no Schools Courier service from 1 April 2019.

Post sent to schools

The audit identified that a large number of flyers and information were sent out, which should have been communicated by e-Courier instead, as this is our main means of communicating with schools. Therefore, one of our priorities now is not only to increase the promotion of the use of the e-Courier, but to work with all our stakeholders in due course to develop the system further. There were a few items which would be difficult to send via e-Courier, and there were letters to specific schools, which illustrated that there is still a need to have a postal service to schools, but this would be via Royal Mail and only have a cost associated with it when used, which would be charged to users accordingly.

Post collected from schools

Pupil records

In terms of post coming back from schools, the majority were pupil records, which were to be sent on to a receiving school. We should be using electronic means of sending Pupil Records wherever possible - as per MI Sheet 88/18. Where manual pupil records are sent, the current process of using the Schools Courier incurs delays, with the records being received one month, where they then sit in the County Hall post room for a month or more until the next courier run, when they are then sent on to the receiving school. If the proposal to cease the Schools Courier contract is accepted, there will no longer be a collection service, which will mean that schools would need to arrange for and pay to securely send on any manual pupil records direct to the receiving school. This would also bring consistency and fairness as most Academies already organise and pay for their manual pupil records to be posted securely direct to the receiving school.

We are considering if there is a need to set up an adhoc courier service for schools to use when sending manual pupil records or if schools already have adequate post arrangements to organise the sending of these themselves. Please be advised that the courier costs will be chargeable to the school requesting the service.

Other post

Most other items returned to County Hall from schools were not urgent or confidential and could be sent back with a finance officer or another member of staff who is coming to County Hall.

Schools Finance audit files

The Schools Finance audit files will need an adhoc courier contract setting up, so that they can be transported between County Hall and the relevant schools to ensure timescales are not breached. This will be set up and details shared before the current Schools Courier contract expires. Any costs for this will be picked up by the Schools Finance team.

Library boxes

Library boxes are outside the scope of the Schools Courier Contract review consultation, the delivery and collection of the library boxes is being looked at separately by the School Library service.

Feedback requested

We would like to know, if we were to set it up, would you use an adhoc chargeable courier service for the sending of manual pupil records only?

Also, we are interested in your views on the above proposals in general so if you have any comments about them, please email them to the CS e-Publishing Team.

The consultation closes on 19 November 2018.