Purpose

To award a contract to provide services and support to resettled refugee families under the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme and the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme.

Reasons for the decision

The British Red Cross Society will help the Council meet its requirements for support set out in the grant funding provided by Government. The provider demonstrated that they have a strong understanding of the requirements and well-developed plans for how to provide the necessary support and intervention to benefit newly arrived families.

Following the outcome of the procurement process, The British Red Cross Society were identified as having submitted the most economically advantageous tender.

Alternative options considered

The Council could consider delivering these services in-house, however, there is limited capacity and experience to directly deliver the contract.  In addition, a service provided directly by the Council is likely to be more expensive than the voluntary sector can provide.

The Council could also consider no longer providing any integration services to the newly arrived refugees; however, this would be against the Government guidance within the funding agreement and would likely result in the Council returning the funding.

The Council has reviewed whether a call-off contract from a framework would have been possible, but no suitable framework could be identified.