Agenda item

To approve the direct award of four short-term contracts for accommodation-based housing related support for adults at risk of becoming homeless.

Resolved:-

That approval be given for an exemption to be made to the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and to authorise the Director of Adult Social Care to directly award four separate short-term contracts for accommodation-based housing related support for adults at risk of becoming homeless for a period of 9 months (2 November 2022 to 1 August 2023) for a combined value of £632.8k.

                  Approval was sought for an exemption to be made to the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and to authorise the Director of Adult Social Care to directly award four separate short-term contracts for accommodation-based housing related support for adults at risk of becoming homeless for a period of 9 months (2 November 2022 to 1 August 2023) for a combined value of £632.8k.

                  The Chair of the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board questioned whether the framework for the combined services had been compiled and when would it need to be compiled to go out for tender. Furthermore, the Chair asked whether there would be any objection for the Safer Neighbourhoods and Active Communities Scrutiny Board inputting into the provision as a pre-decision.

                  The Councillor for Adults, Social Care and Health stated she would undertake to respond to the questions.

                  Reasons for Recommendations

This report sought the approval for an exemption to Council Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules to directly award four separate short-term contracts, under the Light Touch Regime (LTR) for Accommodation based housing related support for single homeless for a 9-month period from 2 November 2022 to 1 August 2023.

This would facilitate the alignment of all current Supported Housing services to a common expiry date being 31 July 2023 to allow retendering of a Supported Housing framework.

Aligning the end dates for these six contracts would allow them to be reviewed collectively for the first time to allow any potential cost/efficiency savings to be identified and built into a new single remodelled and formally procured service from August 2023.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 – To extend the current contracts rather than directly award new ones.

This was not an option as the current contracts were for a set period with an end date of 1 November 2022 with no option to extend further, therefore, new contracts were for a continuation of service.

Option 2 – To conduct a procurement exercise for the 4 short term contracts.

The services come with significant set up costs regarding the provision of the accommodation, therefore, it would not be financially viable for a new provider to deliver the service for 9 months only to go through another procurement exercise to commission a holistic framework for supported housing a few months later. This would have a significant impact on council procurement and contracting resource as well as demonstrate very poor value for money for the Council.                          

                           Agreed:-

(1)     that approval be given for an exemption to be made to the Council’s Procurement and Contract Procedure Rules and to authorise the Director of Adult Social Care to directly award four separate short-term contracts for accommodation-based housing related support for adults at risk of becoming homeless for a period of 9 months (2 November 2022 to 1 August 2023) for a combined value of £632.8k.