Agenda item

The report recommended that the Cabinet member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing extend the Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) to access the pan-London online sexual health service contract procured by the City of London as part of the London Sexual Health Transformation Programme (LSHTP). The pan- London online sexual health service is an integral part of the LSHTP’s development of a comprehensive sexual health service for Haringey and London-wide.

The contract for the pan-London Online service was procured through an EU tender by the City of London. The Council was included in the OJEU notice advertising the tender for the online service along with City of London and 30 other London councils (Related Authorities) that had been accessing the online service since it was procured in 2017.

Following the conclusion of the tender process the City of London, as the lead authority approved the award of the contract for the online service to Preventx Limited The inter authority agreement to access the contract with Preventx via the City of London was approved for an initial 5 year term commencing from 1st June 2017 till 31st May 2022 with an option to extend for 4 further one year periods. The report requested approval from the Cabinet member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing to extend the contract for the additional 4-year extension period (to run concurrently), commencing from 1st June 2022 till 31st May 2026.

Forecasted Council’s spend over the proposed 4 year extension period is estimated at £1,527,888 (depending on uptake of the service) with a total estimated spend of £2,984,281 over the maximum 9-year lifetime of the contract (depending on uptake of the service).

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED 

That the Cabinet member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing agrees to the Council extending the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with the City of London and other London authorities to continue to access the pan-London online sexual health service under a contract awarded by the City of London to Preventx Limited as permitted under Contract Standing Orders 10.02.1.b and 16.02. 

That the Council commits, in accordance with the terms of the IAA, to accessing the online service under the City of London-Preventx Ltd contract, post the initial 5-year term (ending 31st May 2022) and extend for the additional 4 years (as set out in the original award report but to run concurrently) at an estimated service cost of £1,527,888 resulting in a maximum estimated spend of £2,984,281 over the maximum 9-year contract duration for the London Borough of Haringey.

Additionally, subject to paragraph 6.7 below, the Council commits, in accordance with the terms of the IAA to making a financial contribution to the City of London for its contract management role at an estimated maximum amount of £122,412 over the maximum 9-year contract duration.

Reasons for decision 

In December 2016, Cabinet agreed to the Council’s participation in a London wide procurement for an expansive sexual health service that would be a web- based system to include a ‘front-end’ portal joined up partner notification and home/self-sampling. It was also agreed that the procurement would be led by one council on behalf of the councils in the London Sexual Health Transformation Programme (LSHTP).

This led to City of London awarding a contract for the online service to Preventx LTD. To access the online service under the contract, Haringey was required to enter into an IAA with City of London and the other participating LSHTP authorities governing the access arrangements. To continue with this agreement, which will ensure Haringey residents are able to access the online service, approval is needed from the Cabinet member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing to extend the IAA to continue to access the online service from the provider that was procured by City of London (Preventx LTD).

Alternative options considered 

The Public Health team could have acted outside of the LSHTP and procured as a single local authority. However, it chose to be part of the LSHTP, which is a partnership between 30 London boroughs, with the purpose of creating a collaborative approach to commissioning sexual health services. The LSHTP business case for change demonstrated that the level of improvement in quality and cost reduction that all London clinics needed could only be obtained by commissioning at scale. For this reason, Haringey gained agreement from Cabinet in December 2015 to become a participating member of the pan-London online sexual health service and to procure clinic- based services as part of the North Central London (NCL) sub regional partnership.

Continued participation within the pan-London online sexual health service offered the benefits of savings via economies of scale and greater choice of access to online services across London for local residents.