Purpose

• The Early Learning and Portage Support Service is
commissioned through a collaboration agreement with
Inspire Connected Communities Trust (formerly Lincolnshire
Wolds Federation) who is acting as the lead provider on
behalf of a collaboration of special schools.
• The collaboration agreement commenced 1st April 2024 for
an initial term of three years to 31st March 2027, with an
option for an extension or extensions of up to 24 months.
• The Early Learning Portage Support Service (ELPSS) supports
Lincolnshire children in their early years with suspected or
diagnosed SEND, and their families, where there is a
learning difficulty, developmental delay or physical difficulty
impacting on the child’s educational development.
• The Service is performing well in terms of performance
against its key performance indicators (KPIs).
• The Executive Councillor for Children’s Services supported
the extension of the collaboration agreement in April 2026.
• The up to 24-month extension to the collaboration
agreement is allowed for within the contractual terms and
conditions.
• The contractual terms and conditions within the
Collaboration Agreement includes a termination clause
which permits the Council to terminate the Agreement
without cause by giving six months’ written notice. In such
circumstances, the Agreement provides that the Council
shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from or in
connection with the termination

Decision

The Executive Director of Children’s Services in consultation
with the Executive Councillor for Children’s Services approves
an extension to the Early Learning Portage Support Service
collaboration agreement with Inspire Connected
Communities Trust (formerly Lincolnshire Wolds Federation).
The current collaboration agreements ends on 31st March
2027 and shall be extended for up to 24 months from 1
st April
2027 to 31st March 2029. The initial extension period shall be
for 12 months (1st April 2027 to 31st March 2028) with the
decision to extend for the remaining 12 months delegated to
the Assistant Director Children’s Education.
The value of each 12-month extension period shall be
£370,270 (excluding VAT). The value of the extension for the
second 12-month period shall also be £370,270 (excluding
VAT).

Alternative options considered

Do nothing (extension): this was not a viable option. The
collaboration agreement with Inspire Connected Communities
Trust expires on 31st March 2027. To do nothing/decommission would mean that this service would no longer be
available from 1st April 2027. An extension to the current
collaboration agreement is allowed for within the contractual
terms and conditions.
Recommission through the Lincolnshire SEND Alliance or a
competitive procurement process: the extension to the
collaboration agreement is allowed for within the terms and
conditions. As such there would be no benefit in undertaking a
procurement process, as it would require officer time to
complete. To ensure best value for money for Lincolnshire
children and their families, time would be better served on
focusing on the continuation of the Early Learning Portage
Support Service to ensure no disruption for services users.