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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST FOR THIS ITEM:
 
None
 

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families:
 

In accordance with
CSO 21.01, permission was granted to accept £4,692,300 in
external funding from the Department for Education (DfE) and the
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) over three years, to
continue the Family Hubs Programme.

Approved the award of
a contract to Whittington Health NHS Trust for the provision of the
Parent Infant Psychology Service, for a period of two years from 1
May 2026 to 30 April 2028, at a total maximum cost of
£550,620 under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection
Regime) Regulations 2023 (“PSR”) Direct Award Process
C.

Approved for the
waiver of Contract Standing Order (CSO) 12.02 (requirement to
obtain three competitive quotations) as permitted under CSO
18.01.2(d)(iii) (where the value of the contract was below the
applicable threshold pursuant to the Procurement Act 2023 and it
was in the Council’s overall interest to waive the
requirement); and contracts were awarded to:

·      
Baby’s Sake, for the provision of therapeutic interventions
supporting parents and babies, at a cost of £105,000 for a
period of three years from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029; and

·      
Wards Corner, for the delivery of Latin American Stay and Play
sessions, at a cost of £27,595 for a period of three years
from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029.

Reasons for decision:

 
The core aim of the
Best Start Family Hubs Programme was to improve family services,
including Healthy Babies services, particularly in areas with the
highest levels of deprivation and disproportionately poor health
and educational outcomes. Accepting this external funding enabled
the Council to continue its commitment to successfully deliver the
Best Start Family Hubs Programme over the three-year period. The
Programme was needs?led, responded to resident demand and provided
multi?agency services accessible locally.
 
To ensure compliance
with the grant conditions and the uninterrupted provision of
services to families and Family Hub staff, it was recommended that
the Council award contracts to the three organisations referenced
above. Given the time constraints and resource availability, this
course of action was deemed to be in the Council’s best
interest.
 
The need to establish
and initiate service delivery was driven by the requirement to
allocate and expend the DfE grant funding within the timescales
outlined in the submitted Best Start Family Hubs Delivery Plan.
 

Alternative options considered:

 
Doing nothing (Grant
funding): The Council could have decided not to accept the grant.
In doing so, it would have lost the opportunity to continue
delivering the Family Hubs Programme, which was a key objective
within partnership strategies including the Haringey Early Help
Strategy and the Haringey Early Years Strategy. Therefore, this
option was not considered viable.
 
Option 1: Do nothing.
The Council would not have met the requirements of the grant
conditions for the Best Start Family Hubs Programme if it did not
provide perinatal mental health support, support for domestic
abuse, and parenting support offers. This would have resulted in
the clawback of funding and the non?delivery of services to local
families.
 
Option 2: Competitive
quotation process. Tendering was not considered viable due to
limited time available, the challenge of attracting a strong market
given the limited period of funding, and the specialist clinical
requirements for therapeutic interventions and Latin American Stay
and Play sessions. Such delays would have resulted in significant
gaps in service, preventing vulnerable families from accessing
critical support.
 
Option 3: Most
Suitable Provider Process (PIPS). Although this non?competitive
process would have allowed the authority to determine the most
suitable provider based on key criteria, the limited local market
and potential risk of challenge meant that, despite being permitted
under PSR regulations, this option was not recommended.