Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care, and Wellbeing considered the report which sought seeks approval to the implementation of Contract Standing Order 16.02 for award of contract.

The contract to be awarded was for a single provider to lead the delivery of joint statutory advocacy services for the London Boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey namely, Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA), Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Care Act (CA) and Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Services (IHCAS).

The proposed contract shall run for a period of three (3) years with the option to extend for further period of one year plus one year.

The Cabinet Member asked about the availability of services for each borough. The Commissioning Manager explained that the contracted amount of 15,000 hours per year had been determined based on usage over last 4 years and that the available hours were shared across Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey. It was added that it would also be possible to spot purchase services if required and this would be at the same price per hour as the contract (£32 per hour). It was confirmed that the provider’s staff were paid the London Living Wage.

It was noted that an expert by experience had been involved in the tender process and that there were plans to involve service users or experts by experience in the contract monitoring. The Commissioning Manager explained that all three boroughs would be involved in contract monitoring and she would champion the involvement of service users from Haringey.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED

1.    To approve the implementation of Contract Standing Order 16.02 and award a contract to a single provider, namely PohWER*, to lead the delivery of joint statutory advocacy services including Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA), Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Care Act (CA) and Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Services (IHCAS) for a period of 3 (three) years from the 1st of April 2023 to the 31st of March 2026 at cost of £480,000 per annum for the three London Boroughs with provision for extension for a further period of one year plus one year.

2.    The contract value over the life of the contract including extensions will be £2,400,000 for all three London Boroughs.

3.    The cost to the Council will be up to £139,200 per year and up to £696,000 over the life of the contract (initial 3 years cost of up to £417,600 plus one year plus one extensions).

* Barnet Council was the Lead Authority for this tender. Procurement Regulations required that all bidders knew the outcome of the process at the same time so it was not possible to publish the name of the winning bidder in the open report. As the required processes had been undertaken by the time of the circulation of the Cabinet Member Signing minutes, the successful provider could be named in the public section of the minutes.

Reasons for decision

The current jointly commissioned statutory advocacy contracts with the London Boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey for IMHA, IMCA and CAA expire on the 31st of March 2023.

After a tri-borough benchmarking exercise led by Barnet, it was decided to procure IMHA, IMCA, CAA and IHCAS services via a single provider approach with one provider leading and potential subcontracts in place if deemed beneficial. These services will be commissioned for 5 years with a break clause in the contracts at the end of year 3 and year 4.

The single provider approach has been considered carefully and deemed the most suitable option as combining the services together enables service users to be supported by the same advocate/service for IMHA, IMCA, CAA and IHCAS advocacy services should they need the input of these services. This reduces the need for a person to repeat their story to different advocates and allows for a more efficient service. This model also facilitates an integrated referral system, improved and easier performance monitoring, scope for economies of scale as well as closer working partnerships with key neighbouring boroughs.

On that basis, a fully compliant tender process has been carried out and the recommendation in section 3 is made following the completion of evaluations by a joint team of Council officers across adults social care from the London Boroughs of Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. This recommendation provides best value for the Council.

Alternative options considered

Haringey to commission advocacy services independently:

This option was considered but it was deemed more beneficial to jointly commission the services with neighbouring boroughs in order to benefit from economies of scale associated with collaborative procurements.

Do nothing

This is not an option as these are statutory services.