The Corporate Director of Adults (DASS), Commissioning, Health & Social Care has decided to restructure the way that Newham Council provides weight management services. The existing contract with Pulse Healthcare t/a Xyla will be terminated and two new contracts will be entered into using existing budgets and contracts. It was also decided to extend the existing contract with Nutrition Kitchen to provide Healthy Cooking Classes.

Changes to Weight Management provision

The Council is ending its contract with Pulse Healthcare t/a Xyla. Xyla currently provides Tier-2 Weight Management and Movement services¹ in Newham.

The service has failed to meet some important targets related to completer numbers and weight loss over the first two years of the three-year contract. As a result it is not considered to be providing value for the Council.

The contract will be terminated under the terms of a break clause contained within the contract.

The Council will instead use its existing contract with Greenwich Leisure Limited, (GLL) to provide Tier-2 weight management services. GLL currently operate leisure services for the Council under a ten year contract signed in 2024.

The Council, via the existing Leisure Services Contract provided by GLL which commenced on 1 April 2024 with an initial term of 10 years, has the option to activate an optional ‘Work Package’ (Work Package 2) that covers the provision of Weight Management services. Work Package 2 (WP2) was written into the Leisure Services contract as a contingency measure to offer additional or alternative support for the provision of weight management services in the borough.

GLL are expected to be able to deliver the service to the Council's requirements.

Benchmarking, dialogue and in-person visits undertaken to date indicate that GLL will be able to deliver Work Package 2 to the required standard.

The change in provider is expected to produce a saving of £63,000.

Overall, the budget allocated towards Tier-2 Weight Management will be reduced from the current annual value of £425,000 to £361,250.

GLL will be expected to:

reduce the level of attrition seen on the current programme, producing a higher proportion of completers (from starters) and thereby making more efficient use of the budget envelope.

and to increase:

The number of Children and Young People (CYP) reducing or maintaining weight (‘z-score’)²

Changes to Healthy Diet and Cooking Classes

Nutrition Kitchen currently provide Healthy Cooking Classes under a contract that commenced in 2023.

The Council has decided to extend this contract for a further year, meaning that Nutrition Kitchen will be contracted to provide the service until May 2026.

The Council’s contract with Nutrition Kitchen for Healthy Cooking Classes commenced on 1 June 2023 with a term of two years with two optional 1-year extension periods. It is considered to be good value as it has yielded positive outcomes in relation to both healthy eating and weight loss.

The Council will also be varying the existing contract with Nutrition Kitchen to provide:

a new Healthy Diet and Movement service for residents with learning disabilities and new mothers with a history of Gestational Diabetes(GDM) for a period of 12 months

£50,000 of the savings made on the Tier-2 Weight Management contract will be reallocated to fund this contract variation.

Nutrition Kitchen are well placed to deliver these kinds of interventions.