Purpose

To agree to the direct award, by exemption, of
this contract to the incumbent service provider.

The Emergency Duty Team (EDT) Service exists to provide an
emergency responsive service for children and young people up to
the age of 18, but in line with the Leaving Care Act 2000 the
service is available to any care experienced young person aged up
to 25.

The service is provided when a child or young person is believed to
be at risk of significant harm, and from whom delay until the next
working day would be detrimental to their welfare and safety. The
service ensures that they continue to be safeguarded in the
immediate term.

There is a statutory duty for local authorities to safeguard and
promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
This is Section 17(1) of the Children Act 1989.

Decision

That:
 
a)   
To direct award a contract to Worcestershire
County Council to deliver Herefordshire’s children’s
social care out of hours Emergency Duty Team (EDT) service for a
period of 3 years from 1 April 2026 up to 31 March 2029, with the
option to extend up to a further 48 months, initially at an annual
cost of £143,170; and
b)   
To delegate to the Corporate Director for
Children and Young People to take all operational decisions to
agree terms and conditions within the contract, including managing
the risk of Local Government Reorganisation that may curtail
Worcestershire County Council’s ability to deliver their
contractual obligations by undertaking, if required, a scoping
exercise on potential alternative service providers and their
costings (in years 2 to 3)
 

Alternative options considered

1.            
Herefordshire Council could try to deliver the
function from within its own social care resources.  This would require children’s social care to
recruit additional social workers and/or change terms and
conditions of current children’s social workers to enable
them to work the unsociable hours required to deliver an out of
hours service. As of September 2025, children’s social care
had 15 full time equivalent (FTE) vacant social worker posts, with
a further 27 FTE posts filled with agency staff. Therefore, there
is a significant risk of being unable to fill the additional
vacancies arising from delivering the service in house. This is not
recommended. 
2.            
Herefordshire Council could delegate the function
(under S101(b) of the Local Government Act 1972) to Worcestershire
County Council to deliver the service. Although this would negate
the need for us to commission Worcestershire County Council
directly it is not recommended as it would result in the Council
having less control over the service with limited opportunity to
shape provision of what is a business-critical service.   
3.            
Competitive tender of the service to appoint an
external provider. In January 2025, we asked our regional and
statistical neighbours how their EDT services are delivered to
understand how other authorities deliver their EDTs. Responses
received suggest EDT services in other areas have only been
commissioned as part of wider restructure of children’s
social care services therefore, this suggests there is not a market
for the EDT service externally. Additionally, there is no option to
extend the current contract.