The Cabinet Member Signing meeting was scheduled to discuss a variation to extend service agreements for the provision of Bundled Hours Home Support and Reablement services. This extension aims to ensure continuity of care for service users while the council completes a review and tender process for these essential services.

Variation to Extend Home Support and Reablement Service Agreements

The meeting was scheduled to consider a proposal to vary service agreements with Verity Healthcare Limited and Care Sante Limited. These variations would extend the terms of the agreements for up to ten months, from 1 March 2026 to 31 December 2026. This extension is intended to ensure that care for service users continues without interruption and to allow the council sufficient time to complete a review of its current Home Support and Reablement services and to conduct a tender process for a new contract.

The report indicated that the proposed extension would involve additional costs. For Care Sante Limited, the total cost would increase from £2,750,938 to £4,058,906. For Verity Healthcare Limited, the total cost would rise from £1,930,066 to £2,895,098. These figures represent increases compared to the original contract awards made on 9 February 2021. A previous variation in August 2025, which extended the agreement with Verity Healthcare Limited for six months at a cost of £499,000, was noted as having been approved under delegated authority.

The report outlined several reasons for the proposed extension. It was argued that initiating a separate procurement exercise for a short-term period would be inefficient, duplicating effort, resources, and costs for both the council and the providers. Such a process would also divert resources from the ongoing recommissioning programme and could cause significant disruption to client care. The proposed extension's value was stated to remain within the 50% threshold permitted under Regulation 72 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, ensuring compliance with procurement legislation. Extending with the current providers was seen as the best way to maintain continuity of service delivery for vulnerable service users during the recommissioning period. The report also highlighted that without this extension, other service providers in the area would face increased pressure due to a rise in demand. Both Verity Healthcare Limited and Care Sante Limited were reported to have the capacity to accept further referrals with short response times. Key Performance Indicators and outcome metrics are embedded in the current contracts, which commissioning officers can continue to monitor.

Several alternative options were considered. The option to do nothing and allow the service agreements to expire was deemed unviable, as the council has a statutory duty under the Care Act 2014¹ to meet residents' assessed, eligible needs. Allowing the agreements to expire would risk the continuity of care for clients. Providing the service in-house was also considered, but the report stated that the council's in-house provision is unable to meet current demand and would not be cost-effective due to the required staffing and management arrangements. Purchasing services through the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) was deemed unsuitable due to the scale and urgency of home support delivery, with the minicompetition process causing significant delays. The council had previously moved away from full reliance on the DPS for home support to address such issues. Finally, going out to tender immediately was considered premature, as there was insufficient time to complete the design of a new model, engage stakeholders, and run a compliant procurement process before the current contracts expired.

The Bundled Hours Home Support and Reablement Service model was introduced in 2020 as a strategic response to long-standing challenges in delivering home support and reablement services in Haringey. This model aimed to consolidate provision among a smaller group of providers with guaranteed volumes of care. The report referenced a previous Cabinet report from 6 February 2024, which approved an eighteen-month extension to the agreements, bringing the aggregate maximum contract value to £42,786,315, excluding inflationary increases. The current report sought approval to vary two of these agreements for a further period of up to ten months.

The report also touched upon the contribution to the Corporate Delivery Plan 2024-2026, specifically relating to the Adults, health and welfare theme and the outcome area of residents being connected with the right support at the right time in their neighbourhoods. The locality-based delivery model was noted as contributing positively to carbon emission reduction and climate change mitigation, with service agreements requiring providers to support their workers in reducing travel and using alternative transport methods.

Statutory officers provided comments on the report. The Finance department confirmed that the costs of the proposed extension would be contained within the Adult Social Care placement budget for 2026/27. Strategic Procurement noted that the proposed variation satisfied Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, as a change of provider would present significant operational and technical risks, duplication of costs, and practical constraints due to the ongoing recommissioning programme. They also confirmed that the value of the modifications remained within the permitted 50% threshold of the original contract values and that no performance or safeguarding concerns had been identified. The Legal department confirmed that the proposed variation was in line with the Council's Contract Standing Orders, provided the Cabinet Member was taking the decision with the agreement of the Leader. The Equality section highlighted the council's Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010 and stated that the extension would have a positive impact, advancing equality of opportunity for those with protected characteristics, particularly adults with physical disabilities or mental health disorders and older people.