Purpose

To request approval to enter into a short term agreement pursuant to S75 National Health Service Act 2006 with North West London Integrated Care Partnership to secure the provision of community equipment services for service users of Brent until 31 July 2023.

Decision

That the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health:

i)             Approves the Council entering into an agreement pursuant to S75 National Health Service Act 2006 with North West London Integrated Care Partnership to collaborate in the provision of the Brent integrated community equipment service until 31 July 2023.

Reasons for the decision

Cabinet on 15 November 2016 approved entry into an agreement pursuant to s75 National Health Service Act 2006 (s75 Agreement) with Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to collaborate in the provision of the Brent integrated community equipment service (BICES) for such periods as may be agreed but concluding in 2023. The s75 Agreement has been successively extended and is now with the CCG’s successor body, North West London Integrated Care Partnership (NWL ICP).

In March 2023 the service provider commissioned to deliver BICES (Millbrook) served notice under the contract, which will now terminate on 31st July 2023.

Officers will seek approval from Cabinet to enter a further s75 Agreement with NWL ICP to collaborate in the provision of the BICES and approval to enter in to new contractual arrangements, both commencing on 1 August 2023.

Pending Cabinet approval to enter into a new s75 Agreement from 1 August 2023, Officers recommend entry into a short term s75 Agreement to cover the remaining period of the current BICES contract and to therefore terminate on 31 July 2023.

Alternative options considered

Officers have considered options for the delivery of BICES without a s75 agreement in place prior to new arrangements commencing on 1 August 2023 but have concluded that to effectively operate a fully integrated BICES, a s75 agreement with NWL ICP is required.