Purpose

This report seeks approval to commence a
procurement exercise to invite tenders for an organisation to
manage the Liverpool Holiday Activities and Food Programme. Due to
the value of the contract a procurement exercise needs to be
undertaken.

Decision

For the reasons set out in this report, the
Corporate Director has decided to:
 
1)   
Approve the commencement of a procurement process for the provision
of  Holiday Activities and Food Service,
for an initial contract term of 1 year (1st June 2026 to
31st May 2027), with a total contract value of
£162,500 (excluding VAT). The contract will
include  options to extend for up to a
further two years , with an additional value of £327,500
(excluding VAT) subject to confirmation of funding.

Alternative options considered

The Council could opt not to recommission the
service and allow the current contracts to expire without
replacement arrangements in place for 2026. This would mean that
families and young people, who are eligible for benefits related
free school meals, would not have access to free good quality food
and activity provision during the school holidays.
 
A further option would be to not accept the
DfE grant funding, meaning that the costs of service delivery for
the HAF project would have to be met from the Council’s core
budget.