Purpose

To set out revisions to the previously agreed
transitional arrangements for the proposed Careline/Helpline
transfer in response to issues that prevented completion of
transfer on the intended date of Friday 1 August 2025. It is
proposed that the transfer instead takes place on or before
Thursday 7 August 2025 and that expenditure assumptions from the
£0.746 one-off implementation budget are adjusted
accordingly. Through this report it is intended to record the basis
for the decisions set out in the recommendations section
below.

Content

Option 1:
That, having consulted with the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships
and with her full support, the Corporate Director – Planning
and Community (in conjunction with the relevant other officers and
Portfolio Holders) is authorising the following actions and
otherwise will proceed to implement the decision of that Portfolio
Holder in respect of “Careline/Helpline Transfer: Proposed
Transition Plan, Heads of Terms and Expenditure” dated 23
July 2025 as follows:
a)to proceed to complete the Careline/Helpline transfer, broadly in
accordance with the ‘Transition Plan Timetable’
(previously agreed by the Portfolio Holder for Partnerships on 23
July 2025) on or before a revised transfer date of Thursday 7
August 2025 – as reflected in the revised timetable attached
at Appendix 1;
b)to authorise interim arrangements by which the combined Helpline
service will use both the JonTek and UMO call-handling systems
side-by-side with continued third-party call-handling support,
until such time that service-user data has been fully integrated
into Helpline’s JonTek system;
c)to make consequential adjustments to the ‘Breakdown of
projected budgetary implications’ (previously agreed by the
Portfolio Holder for Partnerships on 23 July 2025) and to proceed
to administer and monitor that expenditure as necessary; and
d)to proceed, with continued support from the Council’s
external legal advisors, to enter into legal agreements with
Colchester Amphora Trading Limited in accordance with the revised
timetable and proposed expenditure.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Complete the Careline/Helpline
transfer on or before 7 August 2025, as recommended in the
report.
Option 2 - Postpone the Careline/Helpline transfer to a later date
in August.
Option 3 - Postpone the Careline/Helpline transfer to 1 September
(to correspond neatly with the first day of the next month.
Option 4 - Postpone the Careline/Helpline transfer to a future
unspecified date tied to the completion of the UMO to JonTek data
transfer.