Decision Maker:

Outcome:

Is Key Decision?: Yes

Is Callable In?: Yes

Date of Decision: December 8, 2025

Purpose:

Content: Salford City Council – Record of Decision   I Paul Dennett, City Mayor, accept the recommendation of the Procurement Board and in exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do hereby:   ·     approve the extension of the contract for the Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service (Salford Employment Hub), as detailed in the table below:   Detail required Answers Contract Reference Title/Description of Contracted Service/Supply/Project Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service   Name of Contractor Economic Solutions Ltd t/a Manchester Growth Company Type of organisation (to be supplied by Corporate Procurement) Other Status of Organisation (to be supplied by Corporate Procurement) Non-SME Value of Contract Variation (£) £1,082,544 Existing Contract Term O1/01/2024 – 31/03/2026 Extension Period 01/04/2026 – 31/03/2027 Contact Officer (Name & number) Alison Burnett: 0161 793 2535 Lead Service Group Place Funding Source Combination of Above (please detail below)   Revenue Budget (Skills and Work), GMCA Reserves, DWP WorkWell, DWP GM Economic Inactivity Trailblazer  Ethical Contractor (EC): Mayor’s Employment Charter EC: Committed to sign the Charter EC: Accredited Living Wage Employer   The reasons are: In January 2024, after an extensive consultation with Salford residents, businesses and partners, Salford City Council launched a new universal Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) service, branded as Salford Employment Hub. Designed as a single ‘front door’ to careers, employment, skills and training, its aim is to reduce the complexity and confusion around accessing the wider skills and work offer in Salford, creating a single point of access for people to get support and advice and to be supported to navigate to the right skills and work offer for their needs - Salford Employment Hub•Salford City Council. All residents accessing the support of the service need to be a Salford resident. This is a universal service and residents can be either unemployed or in work. The service also provides support to employers with their employment and training needs.   This commissioned service is delivered by The Growth Company, a well-established provider of employment support services, following a competitive tender exercise. The contract is for 27 months (1st January 2024 until 31st March 2026), funded through core Skills and Work funding. There is a further option to extend on a one plus one year basis, potentially taking this contract up to 31st March 2028, subject to performance and available budgets.   The Salford Employment service has also been designed to be adapted and expanded in line with priorities and funding opportunities and the Growth Company, as the incumbent service provider, has worked with us to achieve this, often to challenging timescales. Since the launch of the Hub, the following  additional services have been approved to be embedded within this core infrastructure, funded via grant monies.  ·     Supported Employment (employer engagement element), ·     In Work Progression pilot programme, ·     WorkWell (employment support element), and ·     the key worker aspect of the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer   It is now proposed to exercise the option to extend the service for a further 12 months from April 2026. It is in the best interests of the City Council (and will deliver best value) to maintain the current service and will also allow us to continue to build upon the core offer as funding opportunities arise. The core service will continue to be funded by Skills and Work funding and further GMCA grant funding for In-Work Progression, Workwell and Economic Inactivity Trailblazer services (the latter two elements are still subject to formal confirmation via the GM Integrated Funding Settlement but are expected to be at the same level as the current allocation).  All elements together bring the overall contract value for the Salford Employment Hub to £1,082,584 in 2026/27.   Options considered and rejected were: A competitive open tender exercise - this was not deemed possible because of the short lead times for mobilising a new service and the subsequent challenges in being able to continue the embedded grant funded elements.   Service is de-commissioned – this would end a core service which has been designed as a single ‘front door’ to careers, employment, skills and training for  residents and employers in the city, with the aim of reducing the complexity and confusion around accessing the wider skills and work offer in Salford.   In-house delivery of the service -  this was not deemed possible because of the need for staff to have specialist Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) qualifications.   Assessment of risk: The delivery provider (The Growth Company) is the incumbent and as such has appropriately qualified and skilled staff in place to continue to provide the service for the proposed 12-month extension from 1st April 2026.   Any delay in the award will impact on service continuity and the ability to provide continuing and new support to local residents and undermine the other service offers that are aligned  and / or ‘bolted on’ to this service.  This could also potentially create a gap in service provision.   In addition, the risk of delaying the proposed extension could impact on staff retention and stability. If there is a sense of uncertainty regarding the future of the service beyond March  2026, then staff will understandably start to look for alternative employment.   The source of funding is: Skills and Work Revenue budget - £649,000 GMCA grant funding - £433,584 Overall contract value for the Salford Employment Hub is  £1,082,584 in 2026/27.   Legal advice obtained: Yes - supplied by The Shared Legal Service (Tony Hatton)   Financial advice obtained: Yes – supplied by Luba Velychko Accountant, Place Directorate    Procurement advice obtained: Yes – supplied by Emma Heyes, Procurement Team   HR advice obtained: N/A   Climate change implications obtained: Yes – supplied by Mike Hemingway, Environment Policy Team   Documents used: ·     Approval to go out to competition for an Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service – Report to Procurement Board on 14th June 2023. ·     Approval to Award the Contract for an Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service – Report to the Executive Director for Place on 10th August 2023 ·     Approval to Award the Contract for an Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service – Report to the Lead Member for Finance, Support Services and Industrial Relations and the Lead Member for Skills & Work, Business and Workforce on 29th August 2023 ·     Approval to Award the Contract for an Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service – Report to CMT on 30th August 2023 ·     Approval to Award the Contract for an Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service – Report to Procurement Board on 13th September 2023 ·     WorkWell Programme: Proposed Locality Model and Delivery Arrangements – Report to CMT on 11th September 2024 ·     Approval for an Extension of Contract for the Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service in order to deliver the In Work Progression service – Report to Procurement Board on 23rd September 2024 ·     Approval for an Extension of Contract for the Integrated Information, Advice and Guidance for Adults and Employer Brokerage Support Service in order to deliver a key worker service as part of the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer local delivery model – Report to Procurement Board on 28th April 2025 ·     Salford Employment Hub and aligned services: Proposed Extension – Report to the Lead Member for  Skills & Work and Business Support on 26th November  2025   Contact details:       ·     Emma Nolan, Skills and Work Commissioning Manager: emma.nolan@salford.gov.uk ·     Alison Burnett, Head of Skills and Work: alison.burnett@salford.gov.uk    Please delete from the bullets below any which are not relevant: ·     This matter is subject to consideration by the Lead Member for Skills & Work, Business and Workforce ·     The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract. ·     This matter is not subject to consideration by another Lead Member. ·     The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is Growth and Prosperity                       Signed:     Paul Dennett     Dated:     8 December 2025.                 City Mayor   FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY   *         This decision was published on 9 December 2025 *         This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 16 December 2025 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.