Purpose

The Council has made a
commitment to tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
where the provision of support services to affected residents is
central to achieving this. The current contracted services are due
to expire on 30th September 2026 and require re-tender to ensure
the continuity of support, therefore an Key Decision is required to
sign off the Procurement Strategy and a Delegated Authority
Decision for the subsequent Contract Award.

Decision

The
Lead Member AGREED to:

1.     Approve the
Procurement Strategy to participate in an Open Tender Process to be
led by the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (LBHF) for
the Violence Against Women and Girls Services for LBHF, RBKC and
WCC.

2.     The proposed
contract term of three years from 1 October 2026 with an optional
one plus one-year extension giving a total contract term of five
years up to 30 September 2031.

3.     The
Council’s sovereign contract(s) the indicative contractual
values across Lot One, Lot Two and Lot Three plus any extensions of
£1,460,774 excluding VAT (£1,752,929 inclusive of VAT),
with values per lot as shown in Table 1 of this report.

4.     Approve a waiver
of the procedural requirements of the Council’s Contract
Regulations, due to the LBHF procedural requirements applying
instead, on the basis that there are exceptional circumstances to
justify a departure from Contract Regulations in order to achieve
the Council’s objectives, on the basis of the justification
in paragraph 5.1 of the report.

5.     Authorise the
Executive Director, following consultation with the Commercial
Assurance Panel and the Lead Member, to award the contract
following completion of the detailed procurement exercise.

6.     Authorise the
Executive Director, following consultation with the Commercial
Assurance Panel and the Lead Member, and confirmation that the
contract has met the necessary key performance indicators, to agree
any extensions and/or variations provided for in the contract.