Purpose

The Council commissions Residential and Nursing Care and Community Supported Living (CSL) services in Lincolnshire through established contractual arrangements to ensure statutory compliance, safe and effective care, affordability, and market sustainability.
Providers report that Lincolnshire’s baseline fee is lower than in comparable areas, impacting financial sustainability. Recent engagement on future rates reinforced concerns that current fees do not reflect rising costs, including consecutive increases in Employer National Insurance, changes from the Employment Rights Act 2025, and day-one Statutory Sick Pay. Ongoing workforce pressures were also highlighted, with recruitment and retention challenges driving pay above National Minimum Wage to maintain quality and avoid service decline.
In response, the Council is commissioning an independent assessment of the market and the associated costs of care delivery, which is intended to support the Council to ensure its commissioning approaches and rate setting models remain fit for purpose and representative of the cost of care delivery, to support the sustainability of the local care market, to help ensure compliance with its statutory duties, and maintain good value for money.

The independent assessment will combine quantitative and qualitative analysis of data obtained from a confidential provider survey, and financial modelling, and will result in a technical report and a publication ready summary, supported by robust data and clear recommendations, to be delivered by 30 September 2026. The maximum budget for this consultancy work is £100,000.

Decision

That the Executive Director of Adult Care and Community:
1. Notes the progress made with this procurement exercise and the final outcome of the tender evaluation.
2. Authorises the Commercial Team to notify the bidders involved in the procurement exercise of the Council's decision to award in accordance with the evaluation outcome.

3. Approves the award of the Contract for the provision of the Independent Market Assessment to Care Analytics, as the highest scoring bidder, to deliver the Service in accordance with the Council's requirements and the solutions set out within its
tender submission.

Alternative options considered

1. Do not proceed to award.
This alternative would involve halting the procurement process, not awarding the contract to any bidder, and then commencing a new procurement process. As there is a clear winning bidder this is not necessary or appropriate.