Decision

The Director of Children, Families &
Education has decided to extend the contract dated 13th December
2021 between Wirral Borough Council and Active 8 Support Services
Ltd for the provision of Family Time for a final period of 12
months with effect from 1 October 2025 at a total cost of
£414,260.

Reasons for the decision

The Council has a statutory duty, under the
Children Act 1989, to provide Family Time between children and
young people looked after by the Council and their families. Family
Time enables a child to spend time with a parent/family member with
a trained professional on hand to ensure it remains safe and in
their best interest.

A contract for the provision of Family Time was entered into on 13
December 2021 with a Contract term of 1 October 2021 to 30
September 2024 between the Council and Active 8 Support Services
Ltd (the contractor). The initial 3-year term of the Contract
expired on 30th September 2024 with the option to extend by 12
months, plus a further 12 months subject to contract review. The
1st Contract extension option was agreed for the period of 1st
October 2024 to 30th September 2025.

The Council has approached the contractor to indicate it wishes
them to continue to provide services for a further 12 months from
the current contract expiry of 30th September 2025. The contractor
has is agreeable to this contract extension.

The total value of the 12-month contract extension is
£414,260.

This contract extension will expire on 30th September 2026.

Alternative options considered

The only alternative option would be to allow
the contract to expire by effluxion of time on 30th September 2025
and bring the full service in-house. However, this is not
practical, would have a significant impact on safeguarding
activities and multiple costing exercises have identified that
bringing the service fully in house would be more costly than the
current commissioned provision.