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RESOLVED that Cabinet -
 

(a)   notes
the outcome of, and feedback from, the recent customer, resident
and stakeholder consultation on the future of Tendring Careline – that was based upon balancing best
value principles with the needs of our existing customers, who now
have a wider range of options available on the open market, at more
comparable rates than the Council can continue supplying the
service for;

 

(b)   notes the
decision to terminate the third-party contract with AE Partners Ltd
(YourStride) which, irrespective of the
Cabinet’s resolution in respect of (d) below, will reduce the
pressure on the capacity of Tendring Careline – which, for some months, has been
dealing with a growing and increasingly unmanageable volume of
calls from residents outside of Tendring; and bring about a cost
saving to the Council;

 

(c)   authorises the
Director of Planning and Communities, in consultation with the
Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, to
review and if necessary, vary or terminate other third-party
contracts at suitable timely junctures as part of the move towards
the fulfilment of any final preferred approach;

 

(d)   confirms that,
having considered the contents of this report, it still wishes to
continue, in principle, with the preferred option (Option 2) of
ceasing the telecare and lifting/response provision of the
Careline Service, in its entirety,
including service delivery under third-party contracts with
remaining service provision solely relating to the Council’s
Out-of-Hours and CCTV service – albeit subject to (e)
below;

 

(e)   authorises the Director of Planning and
Community, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the
Portfolio Holder for Partnerships, to explore further the
third-party proposals that were submitted to the Council through
the consultation;

 

(f)   subject to (e)
above, requests that third parties be invited to put forward a
formal detailed proposal for further exploration within one month
of this decision (i.e. by close of business on Monday 16th December
2024) as the starting point for Tendring District Council’s
consideration;   

(g)   requests that
the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships reports to Cabinet in
February 2025 to provide an update on the opportunity explored in
line with (e) above in respect of the third-party proposals, as
well as an updated recommendation for a final Cabinet decision on
the future of Careline informed by
updated financial analysis and with a detailed transition
plan;

 

(h)   subject to (g)
above, acknowledges that there may be additional costs arising from
the change in timescales set out in this report, and requests that
the financial impact is included within the report to Cabinet in
February 2025; and

  

(i)   
authorises the Director of Planning and Community in consultation
with the Leader of the Council and the Portfolio Holder for
Partnerships, to assess different options for the continued
provision of the Out-of-Hours and CCTV service and to implement any
necessary changes, as necessary, following the Cabinet’s
final decision on the future of Careline.