Purpose

The purpose of this report is
to seek approval, in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule
12.1.4, to waive Contract Procedure Rule 8 and award a contract
without competition to Progress Housing Association Ltd for the
continued delivery of a Falls Response Service for the period between 17 July 2023 to 31 March
2024.
 
The reasons for the decision is, as supported by
Contract Procedure Rule 12.1.4: the exceptional circumstances are
due to the current contract ceasing on 16 July 2023. The Council
purchases the contract on behalf of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside
Integrated Care Board (Knowsley) and agreement to continue the
service forms a key part of the Better Care Fund Plan that was
submitted to NHS England, as per the nationally set timeline, on 28
June 2023. It was not possible to request a contract be awarded to
Progress Housing Association Ltd before then as agreement to
continue the service was not possible until this point. The
timescales for submitting the BCF Plan are set by NHS England and,
therefore, outside of the control of the Council so this situation
could not be avoided.
 
If the service ceases this will
result in increased risk of avoidable harm to vulnerable people at
risk of falling in their own home. The impact of this is likely to
result in increased demand for ambulance services and hospital
admissions which will cause serious disruption to the local NHS and
adult social care services at a time when they are already under
extreme pressure and expecting this to be exacerbated going into
the summer holiday period. The direct award of a contract without
competition will help to avoid this as it will enable the service
to continue diverting calls from North
West Ambulance Service and avoiding unnecessary hospital
admission. During the proposed contract period an open tender
exercise will be completed to secure longer term
provision.
 

Decision

By
Executive Director (Resources):

(i)      That Contract Procedure
Rule 8 be waived, in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule
12.1.4, to permit the award of a contract without competition for
the continuation of a Falls Response Service.
 
By
Executive Director (Health and Social Care):

(ii)    
That a contract be awarded without competition to Progress Housing
Association Ltd for the continued delivery of a Falls Response
Service for the period between 17 July 2023 to 31 March 2024
costing £0.080m for the proposed contract term;
and

 

(iii)    
That the Procurement Team be authorised to make the necessary
arrangements for the issue of the relevant contract
documentation.