Decision details

This 5-year contract is due to end in February 2023.  Approval is sought to extend this contract for an additional two 12-month periods (1+1) at a total value of £250,984. This will increase the aggregated contract to £878,444. It is further requested that delegated authority to award be granted to the Executive Director, People & Communities, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.  

The DPSS supports delivery of a statutory requirement. The Care Act requires local authorities offer people the option of having a personal budget paid to them as a direct payment. The DPSS provides essential information and advice to support individuals who choose a direct payment.

a) Tender the service – It has not been possible to tender the service within the original timescales due to vacancies and recruitment challenges within the commissioning service area.  Had vacancies been filled it would have been possible to issue the tender in September as planned by procurement and this matter could have been concluded compliantly. However due to the vacancies in the service area and resulting lack of resource, it would not be feasible to complete this before expiry of the current contract. To do so would create   a gap in provision, resulting in service disruption and a negative impact on people who rely on the DPSS for information and support to maintain their direct payments.

b) Not extend the service – this option would result in a loss of provision and have a detrimental effect on direct payment recipients and social care practitioners recommending the direct payment option.  Such an action would severely affect the Council’s ability to offer personalised budgets and therefore compliance with its statutory Care Act duties.

c) Extend the service for a shorter period – this is unlikely to provide sufficient time to recruit a Commissioning Manager and fully complete a tender process. The 1+1 year proposal gives the Council flexibility to retender the service after 1 year whilst retaining the option of a further year’s extension should it be required to maintain service provision. 

There were none.

A business case.