Agenda item

Report of the Director of Culture, Strategy, and Engagement. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities & Leisure.

Request to award the contract to preferred provider for the Capacity Building Partner for the Voluntary and Community Sector.

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities & Leisure introduced the report which detailed the outcome of an open tender process and sought approval to award the contract to the successful tenderer for the Provision of Capacity Building Partner for the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Haringey in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1 (d).

The Cabinet Member highlighted the following:

-      The voluntary and charitable sector in Haringey played a vital role across the borough, supporting residents and providing services to different communities and the Council were committed to supporting the sector and to support a provider to provide advice and support.

-      The Council had redesigned the service specification to better meet the needs of the sector, and this had been informed through engagement with that sector.

-      The contract focused more strongly on capacity building and set out clear and transparent accountability to both the Council and the wider sector, ensuring equitable access to support and external funding opportunities.

-      The Council had carried out a robust and thorough open tender process toward a new contract to a provider who submitted a strong bid outlining their experience, expertise and commitment to providing services required and the outcomes specified in the tender documents.

-      Delivery against the contract will be regularly monitored, monitored on a quarterly basis to ensure key performance indicators were met and service outcomes were delivered.

-      Agreement was being sought to award this contract for three years starting on the 1st of April 2024.

In response to questions from Cllr da Costa, the following information was provided.

-      The Council were looking for a provider in a niche market as there were few organisations that are able to meet the contract specification. However, out of the organisations that did tender for this bid, they had set out some really strong outcomes that the Council want to deliver and to support the voluntary sector across Haringey in the future.

-      Regarding making contract monitoring performance publicly available, the Council would be working with the provider to develop a clear suite of public reporting indicators. The Council wanted the successful winning bidder partner to work with the voluntary sector to agree what the sector feels are the important outcomes that really mattered to them and then to agree what the mechanism of reporting and transparency would be. Therefore, the intention was to develop the performance indicators with the sector and with the  partner once appointed.

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Further to considering exempt information at item 19,

RESOLVED

1. To approve the award of a contract to the successful tenderer, for the Provision of Capacity Building Partner for the Voluntary and Community Sector, in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 9.07.1(d). The successful bidder is identified under Appendix 1 - Part B (exempt information) of this report).

2. To approve the contract award for a period of three (3) years, commencing 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2027, with option to extend for further periods of up to plus 2 years.

3. To note that there is the potential for additional investment from North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB). Any additional activities to be delivered as a result of this funding will be agreed with the provider by way of variation to the contract.

4. To note that the Director of Culture, Strategy and Engagement will approve any variation of contract resulting from any additional NCL ICB funding as stated above.

Reasons for decision

The Council is committed as part of the Haringey Deal to working more closely with residents, understanding the specific needs of different communities in more depth and granularity, and getting better at listening to voices that are often overlooked. The voluntary and community sector is a key partner in realising this ambition and as a Council we need to support the development and growth of the sector so that it effectively represents and supports all of our diverse communities.

Further support for and development of partnership working with the voluntary and community sector in the borough is therefore a key strategic priority for the Council and is incorporated throughout the Corporate Delivery Plan 2022 - 2024.

The current VCS strategic partner contract was originally let some years ago and does not reflect current Council priorities and ways of working under the Haringey Deal. The specification has therefore been re-designed. The redesign of the new service was informed through engagement with the VCS,

focused more strongly on capacity building and with clear and transparent

accountability to both the Council and the wider sector, ensuring equitable

access to support and external funding opportunities. The service specification reflects that the new service should be innovative, responsive, flexible, and more strategically aligned as a VCS Capacity Building Partner service in Haringey.

The decision to award a contract to the successful tenderer is based on the conclusion of a competitive procurement process and is made according to the outcome of the Most Economically Advantageous Tender.

Alternative options considered.

Do Nothing - The Council could elect not to commission this service.

However, it has been concluded given the Council’s strategic objective to

develop support for the voluntary and community sector, to no longer

commission the service would have an adverse impact on delivery of strategic

outcomes as well as on those organisations in the sector and therefore on the

many small organisations who they support. The option to do nothing was

considered and rejected.

In-house – This provision was considered and found not to be suitable for full delivery of this service. There is a need for an independent partner to provide representation to the sector, which already works collaboratively with the Council’s dedicated Voluntary & Community Sector Team. The need for a

partner from within the VCS was expressed clearly in the engagement with the sector that informed this decision.

Extend existing contracts – Extension periods available within the existing

contract have been exhausted and in addition the specification set out in the

existing contract does not now match the Council’s and sector’s priorities.