Decision

The Director of Adults, Health, and Strategic
Commissioning (DASS) has decided to grant the direct award of a
contract for 12 months for the provision of care and support
services at Barncroft Extra Care Housing Scheme (for individuals
aged 55 and over) to Community Caring Ltd, with a total contract
value of £425,694.00.

Reasons for the decision

To enable the continuity of service and reduce
disruption to residents in Bancroft Extra Care scheme and enable
the incumbent provider Community Caring to remain eligible to bid
for the care and support provision in this scheme.
The intention was to procure the care provision from the
established Liverpool City Region (LCR) Flexible Purchasing System,
as per current regional agreements. It only recently came to light
that this incumbent provider was not accredited to the FPS and
therefore not eligible to take part in competition. Replacing the
incumbent provider solely due to their lack of accreditation to the
current framework introduces significant risks such as disruption
to care delivery and wellbeing, loss of established relationships
and trust as well as the risk of challenge to the procurement
process.
This is an interim arrangement whilst Wirral Council scope the
requirements to establish its own framework.
Once established the framework will allow this and any other future
scheme to be procured via a competitive process.
This approach has been discussed and agreed with the Head of
Procurement as an exception to the Council’s Contract
Procedure Rules as set out in the Council’s constitution at
Part 4, Section 6 Contract Procedure Rules sections 12.4.1 b) a
waiver of the rules would be in the interests of the Council, be
lawful, and provide value for money.

Alternative options considered

Do nothing – To allow the current
contract to naturally expire and not recommission.
This is not recommended as the local authority has a statutory duty
to the people in Extra Care under the Care Act so the Council would
have to put in place alternative care provision such as residential
care for these individuals which would be more costly overall. This
approach also does not embrace the independence principles in the
Care Act and also will not be in line with Wirral’s vision
and outcomes outlined in the Council Plan.
Extend the current contracts- The current contract has no further
extension provisions. This approach will therefore contravene the
Council’s Contract Procedure rules.
Procure the Service via the LCR FPS – The incumbent provider
is not accredited to the LCR FPS and therefore would not have the
opportunity to tender for the opportunity. This would lead to a
disadvantage to a local provider, given they would not be given the
opportunity to retain their current business. This provider has
performed well under the current contract.
Allow incumbent provider to bid without being accredited by
existing LCR Flexible Purchasing System – This would be in
direct contravention of the framework rules under PCR 2015.