Purpose

This report outlines a
procurement strategy for an external partner to work with Camden
Council for a 9-month period to scope how the Council might run a
basic income pilot for care-experienced young people in Camden.
Care-experienced young people experience poor outcomes– 59%
of Camden care leavers are in education, employment or training and
only 4% of care leavers in Camden are in higher education.
Providing care-experienced young people leaving care with a basic
income, that provides a genuine safety net and reduce the reliance
on benefits would increase autonomy, control and choice, and could
also reduce demand for local public services. The Welsh government
have piloted a Universal Basic Income for care-experienced young
people, and Camden are keen to play a role in further stimulating
the debate for a basic income pilot in Camden by taking forward a
pilot.
We would be reliant on external
funding for a pilot, but there is significant interest in this
topic so we believe this is achievable. External support for
scoping on a basic income pilot for care-experience in Camden will
help us to work through a range of ethical and moral questions
about how a pilot would work – we are keen to ensure the
unintended consequences of the pilot are not disadvantaging other
young people as there are decisions to be made about scale and
approach, and do not have the pilot expertise to ensure this
internally. We also believe that external support for scoping will
also provide us greater access to external funding to fund the
pilot itself.
 
The total contract value is
£100,000 over a 9-month period, aiming to start in October
2024. The procurement route will be a competitive
tender.
 

Content

That the procurement strategy, which includes a quality/price
split of 60/40 and contract terms of 9 months for an estimated
aggregate value of £100,000, be agreed.