Purpose

The current Direct Payment Support Service
contract is due to expire on 30 September 2025, with an option to
extend until 31 March 2026.

Approval is sought to extend the contract for a further 6 months,
until 31 March 2026. This will provide sufficient time to consider
and plan the appropriate next steps for the future of the
service.

The annual cost of the service is £198,670. The proposed
6-month extension would therefore be £99,335

The service commenced on 1 May 2018. If the extension is approved,
the contract will have been in place for 7 years and 11 months,
with an aggregated total contract value of approximately
£1.46m.

Content

That it be agreed the Cabinet
Member:
 

1.       Approves the extension of
the contract for the Direct Payment Support Service with Vibrance
for a further period of 6 months, commencing on 1 October 2026, at
the pro rata current annual price of £99,335.

 

2.       Delegates authority to the
Executive Director for Adults and Communities to finalise the terms
of the extension and associated contract terms.
 

Reasons for the decision

This decision is a key decision as
the total contract value since 2018 is over £500k. 

If the contract is not extended, without another service having
been commissioned, a cohort of people will be without support to
manage their direct payments.
 
Extending the contract until
31st March 2026 will enable the Council to undertake a
compliant procurement exercise pursuant to the Procurement Act 2023
and thereafter award the contract for the future service.

 

Alternative options considered

Do not extend / Decommission - This is not
recommended as this service will need to be replaced with some
level of provision to effectively meet the Council’s
statutory duties under the Care Act 2014. Not extending the
contract would leave a cohort of individuals who need support with
their Direct Payments without support and there is insufficient
time to procure a new contract before 1st October 2025.