Decision

To award a contract of £60,000 to Ideas Alliance to deliver the Thriving Together local government reorganisation participation programme following an invitation-only competitive request for quote and interview process. This was based on a specification sent out to three local organisations. The specification included:

·       Objectives & background of the work

·       Outline of each of the stages of the process

·       Submission requirements and criteria for evaluating the bidders

Reasons for the decision

To create delivery capacity to undertake participation work at pace in order to meet government deadlines.

The budget for Engagement & Participation was agreed by Adur Full Council and Worthing Full Council as outlined in section 6.7 and Appendix 3 of the Budget Estimates 2025/26 paper.

Alternative options considered

To deliver the programme using council officers. This was not viable due to resource constraints.