Purpose

This report requests permission to
commence a recommissioning and tender exercise leading to the award
of a new Overnight and Related Short Breaks Service from 1st of
April 2026. The commissioning of this service enables the Council
to meet its statutory duty under the Children & Families Care
Act 2014.

Content

DECISION:

 

1.    
Approves the recommissioning of the Overnight and Related
Short Breaks Service for disabled children and young people (CYP),
for a four-year term (3+1) from the 1st of November 2026 to the
31st of October 2030 at a combined value of £5,574,376
(£1,393,594 p.a).
 

2.    
Approves a contract extension of 6-months (from 1st of April
2026 - 31st of October 2026) of the existing contract in order to
accommodate the revised process that was agreed at MAB on 25 June
2025, i.e, to return to Cabinet prior to contract award (see 3.5).
This is to ensure service continuity during the interim period and
will be at a cost of £580,664, although cost may be affected
by inflation and the London Living Wage (LLW).
 

3.    
Notes the specific equalities considerations as set out in
Paragraph 4.1.

Reasons for the decision

The current
contracts for the provision of Overnight and Related short Breaks
for disabled children and young people (CYP) are due to expire on
31st March 2026.
 
A decision from
the Mayor and Cabinet is required to ensure that the Overnight and
Related Short Breaks Service contract is recommissioned in line
with the proposed procurement timeline and start of new
contract.
 
This will ensure a
seamless continuity and high-quality services for our most
vulnerable children and young people and their families. This is a
statutory service, and the Council has a legal responsibility to
ensure its delivery.

Alternative options considered

Transition to spot
purchasing services when the contract ends. This option
comes with several
risks and issues.
 
The cost of spot
purchasing will be considerably greater, and will also
be
difficult to
track, monitor and forecast spend making it an inefficient
and
unsustainable
option.
 
There is a
shortfall in available providers, and a lack of suitable
residential provision within the borough. Although Tower Hamlets is
fortunate to have two local provisions, they are also accessed by
neighbouring boroughs under spot arrangements. Moving to spot
purchasing would place the Council in direct competition with these
boroughs which could jeopardise service access for our families,
and cause delays and longer waiting times for services.
 
Delivering
off-contract brings its own associated risks in that the Council
will
not be able
contract manage as closely as we do commissioned providers, which
could put the quality and safety of service at risk. It also limits
our opportunities to build relationships with providers and develop
specialist services for our children.
 
The cost of the
service could be reduced by changing the offer so that children and
families do not receive as much support as they do under the
current arrangements. This is likely to meet considerable
opposition from families who value the opportunity for their
children to receive specialist care outside the home and the impact
will be that some children will come into the care of the local
authority due to the parental capacity to cope without respite. The
current cost of a ‘looked after child’ in residential
care for one week is a minimum of £10,500 which equates to
£535,500 per annum, whereas the commissioned rate for this
service is estimated to be between £3,228 - £3,276
(Mon- Fri) which is significantly lower.
 
Consideration was
given to in-sourcing and bringing the entire service in-house.
However, based on the cost modelling, this would not represent good
value for money for the Council. The resources needed to deliver
the service in-house will be significantly more expensive due to
the high staffing costs involved, and the more affordable option
would be to continue with the existing arrangement of outsourcing
the provision. Furthermore, given the shortage of available Council
premises, it will be a challenge to deliver the Lot 2 Complex Needs
provision.
 
Stopping the
service altogether is not an option as it is a statutory obligation
on the local authority.