Im just wondering of the legality of a number of Cycle to work schemes being run by the likes of Evans, Edinburgh and Halfords.

I thought that creating a monopoly on the supply of bikes for example a large council would be illegal.

Im questioning it as a local councillor is concerned that Leeds Council is tied in exclusively to Edinburgh Co-op and they are taking about £250,000 a year from Leeds Council.
As he explains if they did that with a building materials company then they would be acting illegally competition rules etc.

After all the scheme isnt run by Edinburgh Co-op etc, they simply sell bikes to the council and run a voucher scheme to keep track of who has what, the rental agreements wage reducions etc are all done by the council pay roll.
Any thoughts on this.

Well done EBC i say.

i’d imagine that if the council has put the deal out to tender for a set period and the company is chosen on a value for money basis then why not. Same as any other tender by a council

Be advised that i hold no qualification or experience in the above matter and could be talking ar*e

The tender thing was done by Leeds Council in this instance, however the tender process wasnt about value for money, it was simply about quality standards and liability insurance, etc, the decision was made after the buyer couldnt be bothered to sort it out. (this is from the councillor) not me.

From my little experience of this value for money is not always the cheapest deal but the one that’s the best for the cost, So they may decide to go for a better quality service and pay more for this.

Sounds like a lazy council worker who went for option that created the least work for him and possibly a new bike

From what i’ve seen about pricing some of these council workers must be getting bungs. I was once quoted £1000 to put up two folding shelves by our property service department.

legally i’d imagine you’d have to look at the other bids and if the same service was being offered for less then you have a case but against the council not the supplier, again take this with a pinch of salt i have not even got a GCSE in law let alone a degree