Purpose

All practitioners in Lincolnshire who work with or have direct
contact with children or adults must have access to current
national legislation and statutory guidance, alongside local
policies and procedures and best practice guidance, to enable
them to safeguard children and adults.
This includes staff within Lincolnshire County Council’s (LCC)
Children’s Services, Adult Services, and professionals from
partner organisations and sectors, such as Police, Education,
Health and the Voluntary and Community sector.
LCC requires an online platform to host and manage policies
and procedures on behalf of Children’s Services, Adult Services
and the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP)
to support multi-agency access to legislation, practice and policy
guidance across Lincolnshire.
Benchmarking activity with 151 other Local Authorities has
indicated that the vast majority (over 95%) commission an
external provider in the same way Lincolnshire does, reflecting
the specialist nature of this type of service.
An RFQ process offers the best balance of value for money,
flexibility and market testing, whilst enabling LCC to specify its
requirements and secure a provider that can effectively support
statutory compliance and safeguarding responsibilities across
the relevant services.

Decision

That the Executive Director of Children’s Services approves the
procurement of an online platform to host and manage the
following statutory and best practice safeguarding
documentation:
• Online Policies and Procedures for Adult Social Care.
• Online Policies and Procedures for Children’s Services.
• Online Policies and procedures for the Lincolnshire
Safeguarding Children Partnership (LSCP).
• Procedures, Manuals, Handbooks and Guidance for
Regulatory Services.
Procurement will be through a Request for Quotation (RFQ)
process. The contract will be from 1st April 2027 until 31st
March 2029, with the option to extend for up to 2 years (1+1),
including break clauses with six-months’ notice therein. The
maximum value of the contract will be up to £147,410
(excluding VAT) or £176,892 (including VAT), if all extensions are
realised and inflationary uplifts applied.

Alternative options considered

Option 1: Do Nothing – this was not a viable option as the
current contracts expire on 31st March 2027.
Option 2: Insourcing – this was not a viable option as this would
require significant financial and resource investment. External
providers offer greater resilience, specialist expertise and value
for money.
Option 3: Procurement via an existing Framework – this was
not a preferred option. Although a Framework could provide a
quicker procurement route, there is limited flexibility and
reduced opportunity to secure best value for money. There is
sufficient time to undertake an RFQ process.