Agenda item

[Report of the Director of Children’s Services. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families.]

This report seeks authorisation for a direct contract award without prior publication of an advertisement to TBAP Trust (TBAP)  for the delivery of Haringey’s Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) for one academic year.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced this report which sought authorisation for a direct one year contract award without prior publication of an advertisement to TBAP Trust (TBAP) for the delivery of Haringey’s Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) for one academic year.

The Cabinet Member advised that this proposal sits within the context of an on-going strategic review of Alternative Provision, in its widest sense, and a real drive to transform the outcomes for children and young people who had been excluded or were at risk of exclusion from school.

The Cabinet Member highlighted this extensive and strategic review was due to report by the end of this calendar year. It would provide recommendations for alternative commissioning arrangements for children and young people who need to access alternative provision. These would be brought to Cabinet in due course. In the meantime ensuring a one year contract for this academic year would enable the Council to meet its statutory duties in relation to children and young people who were in need of alternative provision, whilst doing the necessary parallel planning for the new arrangements to be introduced from September 2020.

In response to questions from Councillor Tucker, Councillor Connor and Councillor Ibrahim, the following information was provided:

• The Cabinet Member noted it was the intention of the on-going strategic review of Alternative Provision that this return inhouse. The preference from the review was that Alternative Provision would be provided in an entirely different way by the Council itself.
• With regard to TBAP Trust and its financial situation, the Cabinet Member confirmed that Officers had been requested to ensure a Plan B be established, should this company be unable to fulfil the terms of the contract.
• The Cabinet Member noted the length of the contract was for one year, which would allow for the completion of the strategic review of Alternative Provision.
• Regarding due diligence, Officers confirmed they had been working with the Department for Education (DfE) and the Trust to ensure that the Alternative Provision was provided to the standard it expected. Discussions were ongoing across the Council with its Finance and Legal teams to ensure contingency measures were in place, should they be required.
• Regarding the central government’s contribution towards The High Needs Block, the Cabinet Member informed this was expected to be around £4m. In discussing the deficit of Haringey’s High Needs Block, it was noted this was not unique to the Council and many other local authorities operated this with a deficit. The Council was continuing to campaign for more money from central government.
• Regarding how the success of the contract would be measured, Officers noted it would be measured against the educational performance of those attending the PRU. The Council would also look at how productive the PRU was in promoting reintegration for children into mainstream settings.
• The Cabinet Member noted discussions had been held between herself and the Monitoring Officer regarding the safeguards in place, should TBAP Trust’s financial position worsen and the impact that could have on Haringey’s PRU. Continuing to ensure that adequate provision was arranged and having a contingency plan in place would continue to be a paramount concern for the Cabinet Member.

Officers would confirm in writing to Councillor Ibrahim the specific legal protections built into the contract that ensured TBAP Trust could not simply offload Haringey’s PRU to another academy chain.

RESOLVED

To approve, pursuant to the provisions of CSO 9.01.2(g) and in accordance with CSO 9.07.1(d), the award of the contract for the provision of Haringey’s Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) to TBAP for a period of one academic year covering the academic period 1^st September 2019 to 31^st August 2020 at a total cost of not exceeding £857,580.00.

Reasons for decision

The recommendation for Cabinet to agree the proposal to award a contract for one year only to TBAP is made on the basis that:

-      A Strategic Review of Alternative Provision is underway which will lead to new arrangements affecting longer term commissioning of a PRU for Haringey and this approach will enable the continuation of educational services for some of the most vulnerable young people in the borough whilst it reaches its conclusion in autumn 2019. The wide-ranging review encompasses fresh consideration of the current delivery models for existing PRUs within the borough. It is anticipated that one outcome of the review will be a set of recommendations that will be put forward to Cabinet later in the year, including proposals for the longer term approach to and delivery model for PRU provision in Haringey. 

-      This would maintain the Council’s ability to fulfil its statutory duties in relation to the arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise for those children and young people permanently excluded from school or at high risk of permanent exclusion from school. The award of a contract for one academic year only will support the Council’s ability to manage the transition from existing arrangements to any future arrangements in a way that reduces the risk of disruption for the children and young people being supported via the PRU.

-      taking into account the above, and the complexity of the provisions of the Academy Arrangements 2010, making preparations for the re-provision of the PRU in the longer term requires more time. Initial testing of the market for a short term commission through a Prior Information Notice yielded little interest and were anyway rejected on the grounds that they could lead to a disrupted education for vulnerable children and young people in the borough.

Alternative options considered

An alternative option would have been to undertake a competitive tendering exercise to secure a longer term provider of the PRU service working to the same model as currently from September 2019. However, this was not considered to be a viable option as the Alternative Provision Review will lead to change which will need to be reflected in the future model for a PRU.