Purpose

This report sets out the outcome of the procurement process the Council has undertaken in relation to the commissioning of a contractor to carry out refurbishment works at the South Norwood Children’s Home.

This report seeks decision to award the contract to Bidder D for the refurbishment works at the home in South Norwood which will become a home for children with complex behavioural needs. The Council has carried out a comprehensive procurement exercise which saw six potential contractors submit their bids and Bidder D has been chosen based on price and quality.

The refurbishment works are fully funded by Department for Education (DfE) capital funding and the asset we are currently developing for this purpose is a five-bedroom property located in South Norwood. The space and layout make it ideal to convert into a home for up to three children with complex needs, including rooms also available for care and support staff. This proposal is in line with Mayoral Priorities towards children and young people and promotion of living healthier and independent lives.

The DfE grant is being used within the criteria laid down to bring this property already owned by the Council, but not in use, up to quality and safety standards that will be required to achieve Ofsted registration and safe operation for the intended group of young people.

The Council will outsource the operations of the care and support and the management of the building to an experienced residential children’s homes service provider. This offers the least risk of service failure as the Council does not currently have the skills base or staff structure to support operating a registered children’s home directly. Operating children’s homes is a niche specialist skill. Contracting with a partner also has the advantage that the Council does not need to directly employ specialist staff or managers. The risk of Ofsted judgements, which could reflect on the Council’s overall rating is also mitigated. The procurement for the provider is being carried out under a separate strategy.

Decision

Agree to award a contract to Bidder D (named in the Part B report) for the refurbishment works at the South Norwood home with the total value set out in the Part B Report for the duration of 18 months from the date of contract.

Reasons for the decision

The award to Bidder D is recommended on the basis that it is the only provider that delivers an expertly run home which can deliver effective care and provide the requisite value for money to the Council. The bidder commits to deliver on all requirements as set out by the Council including delivering to the specification and achieve social value within the Borough.

Establishing a new children’s home in the borough will reduce pressure on budgets and contribute to the savings plan already outlined in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). Developing internal provision is part of our overall sufficiency pathway and will contribute to meeting savings requirements as part of the Stabilisation Plan.

Increased proportion of children with complex needs placed locally, thereby maintaining local connections, access to local partner services, family relationships and lower cost provision of council services to them.

The proposed bid is within the allocated budget and the contractor has confirmed that they will be able to deliver against the specification without any reverse engineering of the specification to reduce the costs.  

This approach is considered lawful as the contract value is below the Procurement Act (PA23) works threshold and therefore not caught by the full PA23 Regulations.

Notwithstanding going to a select group of tenderers, the process has been run as if it was a full open tender process with tenders being returned electronically via the e-tendering portal using the Council’s standard ITT template.

Bidder D’s bid indicates the right expertise and experience to deliver the project. Their bid demonstrated the technical expertise to deliver the project using recent examples of their ability. Their submission included well defined risk matrix along with risk mitigation arrangements

Alternative options considered

Key options were considered as part of the South Norwood Care Home for Complex Needs Refurbishment Procurement Strategy appended to this report. This is an award report based on criteria set out in the strategy. The exercise has achieved its objective by finding the right contractor within budget.

Do nothing was not an option as the Council has approved delivery of the home and funding has been confirmed by DfE. The do-nothing option would result in the Council having to pay the grant back to the DfE. This option has been discarded.