Decision

The Director of Children, Families &
Education has agreed to the direct award of a contract to Reed
Talent Solutions Ltd. via the YPO Framework (001141- Managing
Consultancy and Professional Services) for a term of 6 months with
effect from February 2026 to provide locum Educational
Psychologists (EPs) to support the Council’s Core EP
team’s delivery of statutory advices for children and young
people undergoing the Educational Health and Care Needs Assessment
(EHCNA) process. The contract will run on a call-off basis to
deliver up to 350 assessments at a cost of £1425 per
assessment. The maximum contract value for 6 months is up to
£498,750.

Reasons for the decision

EPs are critical in identifying special
educational needs and disability (SEND) and providing a statutory
contribution to EHCNA. When the Council carries out EHCNA they must
obtain all the information set out in Regulation 6(1) of the SEND
Regulations 2014. This includes “psychological advice and
information from an educational psychologist” (regulation
6(1)(d)). The advice provided must be given within six weeks of the
date of the request.

OFSTED’s Local Area SEND Inspection published in April 2025
highlights “long-standing, systemic weakness in the processes
underpinning EHCPs in Wirral” and “unacceptably
long” wait for assessments

Reed Talent Solutions Ltd. received a direct award in January 2025
until 31st March 2026 to deliver up to 650 assessments at
£1425 per assessment (total: £926,250). Reed Talent
Solutions Ltd. overdelivered on this contract to meet the
Council’s demands, which means the £926,250 budget has
already been exhausted. There is no provision to extend under the
current direct award and data shows that without the continued use
of Locum EPs, there will be a growing backlog of requests after
this contract ends.

An interim measure i.e. Direct Award for a further 6-months is
required to prevent a gap and foreseen decline in meeting statutory
obligations. The Council has an established working relationship
with Reed Talent Solutions Ltd. who can support service continuity
with minimal disruption as they are already familiar with the
Council’s processes and requirements.

Alternative options considered

The costings provided by Reed Talent Solutions
Ltd. have been benchmarked against other agencies by the
Children’s Commissioning team and are competitive against the
current market for face-to-face assessments.

The maximum variation allowed (10%) under the current Direct Award
with Reed Talent Solutions Ltd. only delivers an additional 65
assessments which is insufficient to meet the level of predicted
demand for the next 6 months.

To support the backlog of EHCNA requests, schools can source their
own EPs for statutory advice on behalf of the Council. The Council
reimburses the payment once the advice received has been quality
assured by the Council’s Principal EP. Comparing this with
Reed Talent Solutions Ltd. shows that school-commissioned advices
have not provided a cost-effective solution and risk an increase in
overspend of the current EP budget if relied on.

The Council has been actively developing core EP capacity through a
‘Grow Your Own’ approach since 2022 which requires a
longer timescale than anticipated to sufficiently meet demand due
to a nationally recognised shortage of EPs alongside recruitment
and retention difficulties. Relying solely on this strategy
presents a risk of an increased backlog for statutory EP advices
unless supported by additional locum EPs

During the next 6 months, there will be consideration for a
longer-term proposal (3-years) through a competitive procurement
process for the next commissioning cycle which will incorporate a
reduced reliance on Locum EPs and school-commissioned advices as
the Council’s Core EP capacity and statutory delivery
improves