Content

Salford City Council – Record of
Decision
 
I Councillor Youd, Lead Member
for Finance and Support Services and chairman of the Procurement
Board, accept the recommendation of the Procurement Board and in
exercise of the powers contained within the Council Constitution do
hereby:
 
·    
approve the award of a contract for a Salford
Supported Employment Service, as detailed in the table
below:
 

Detail required

Answers

Title/Description of Contracted
Service/Supply/Project

Salford Supported Employment Service

Procurement Reference numbers (DN and CR
number supplied by Procurement)

DN796928 / S1513

Name of Successful
Contractor

Pure Innovations Ltd

Supplier Registration Number

(to be supplied by Procurement

05241249

Proclass Classification No.

(to be completed by
procurement)

260000 - Human Resources

Type of organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Private Limited Company

Status of Organisation

(to be supplied by
Procurement)

Non-SME

Contract Value (£)

£298,802

Total contract value £ (including
extensions)

£566,839 total project value

Contract Duration

24 months

Contract Start Date

01/06/2026

Contract End Date

31/05/2028

Optional Extension Period 1

12 months

Optional Extension Period 2

N/a

Who will approve each Extension
Period?

Procurement Board (extension >
£150k)

Contact Officer (Name &
number)

David Timperley, 0161 793 2533

 

 

 

 

Lead Service
Group

Place

How the contract was
procured?
(to be supplied by
procurement)

ITT

Framework Details (where
applicable)
(procurement body, framework
reference & title, start/ end date

N/a

Funding
Source

Revenue Budget

Ethical Contractor (EC):
Mayor’s Employment Charter

No
 

EC: Committed to sign The
Mayor’s Employment Charter

Yes
 
 

EC: Committed to the principles
outlined in the Mayor’s Employment
charter

Yes
 

EC: Accredited Living Wage
Employer

No
 

EC: Committed to becoming
Accredited Living wage Employer

Yes
?

 
 
The Reasons are:
The
current supported employment service commenced in March 2023 and is
currently due to end in March 2026. During which time
261 participants have benefited from support and 78
participants have progressed into employment (as at December 2025),
thereby meeting DWP targets set for the programme.
 
With
the service coming to an end, approval was given in November 2025
to commission a new Salford Supported Employment
Service.
 
Following a
fair and transparent open tender process, Pure innovations Ltd,
have successfully met due diligence and the overall response across
quality, price and social value has demonstrated that they are able
to provide a Salford Supported Employment Service for Salford,
commencing in June 2026.
 
The new service aims to provide
personalised support for up to 60
people per year, this will include support to
remove barriers which inhibit people with disabilities,
specifically those with a learning disability, autism and ADHD,
from securing meaningful and sustainable
employment.
 
Options considered and rejected
were:

·    
Option
1 - would not seek to explore a workable option to provide a supported
employment service in Salford beyond current grant funded provision
and the service would end in March 2026.

·    
Option 2 - would look to explore costed and workable options
for a new ‘targeted’ supported employment service. Any
new service would be co-produced
with a range of stakeholders to ensure different perspectives are
understood and a collective outcome is reached.

·    
Option 3
– would look to explore
costed and workable options for a new ‘universal’
supported employment service. The service will take the same
co-produced approach as option 2, but the focus will be on
providing a broader service offer to benefit a wider cohort of
individuals with autism and learning disabilities. Referrals
pathways will include ASC and SEND, and referrals from wider
partners and pathways, including self-referrals.
 
In
terms of the preferred delivery vehicle, consideration was given to
bring the service in-house. However, due to the nature of the
service and the expertise required to provide specialist employment
support, it was felt the skills and experience within the Council
was not readily available. Also, the additional costs to deploy
and/or recruit specialist staff on Council terms and conditions
would increase the overall investment required to deliver the
service.
 
As
such, approval was given by Procurement Board on 10th
November 2025, to conduct a competitive open tender exercise to
commission the new Salford Supported Employment Service, and the
opportunity was advertised on Find a Tender service and published
on The Chest for bidders to submit tenders.
 
Assessment of Risk:
The
grant funding awarded by DWP has enabled the Council to provide a
supported employment service over the last 3yrs. To date the
service has exceeded expectations and supported a total of 261
people. However, funding for the service is time limited and ends
in March 2026, and as such there is no further external funding
available to support any additional individuals over this period,
thus leaving a gap in service support for any new individuals until
a new service is established and mobilised post March 2026 as
outlined in this report i.e. between April – May
2026.
 
Alongside which, existing formal arrangements with the incumbent
delivery provider (The Growth Company) come to an end in March
2026, and there is no provision to extend the contract, beyond the
12 months in the original award, which was exercised in May 2024.
As such a further extension of the contract or service is not
possible beyond March 2026.
 
However, during this final year (1 June 2025 to 31 March 2026),
the service will remain in place and continue to provide wrap
around support to those currently on programme. In addition, the
incumbent provider has agreed to provide additional support to
those on programme for a further two months until the end of May
2026.
 
Any delay in
awarding the contract could risk creating a break in the service.
It is the Council’s view that Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of
Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE)  is likely to apply to
this Contract in respect of those employees of the current service
provider assigned to the Services. The recommended provider, Pure Innovation Ltd
will be required to commit to accepting a TUPE transfer of those
eligible employees and ensure that their tender is based on TUPE
applying. However, it is the 
responsibility the recommended provider, Pure Innovations Ltd to
consider whether TUPE applies, and as such the recommended provider
should take their own legal advice as to whether TUPE will apply
and the financial implications for their
Tender.
 
The
source of funding is:
The  funding (£350,000) for the
new service has been  identified within
the Skills and Work budget (revenue budget), . However, ultimately
it is hoped that funding for the service can be secured through the
GM Integrated Funding Settlement.
 
Legal Advice obtained: Yes – supplied by Tony
Hatton, The Shared Legal Service.
 
Financial Advice
obtained: Yes –
supplied by Luba Velychko Accountant, Place Directorate.
 
Procurement Advice obtained:
Yes – supplied by Daniel Cunliffe,  Procurement Team.
 
HR Advice obtained:
N/A.
 
Climate Change Implications
obtained: Yes – supplied by Mike Hemingway, Environment
Policy Team.
 
The following documents have
been used to assist the decision process:
·    
LMB Report – Supported Employment Service
– Proposed Service Re-design (May 2025).
·    
Supported Employment Service – Stakeholder
Consultations and Feedback (Sept 2025).
·    
Supported Employment Service – Resident and
Participant Focus Groups and Feedback- Docs A and B (Sept
2025).
·    
Place DMT Report - Salford Supported Employment
– New Service Commissioning Intentions (Oct  13th 2025).
·    
CMT Report - Salford Supported
Employment – New Service Commissioning Intentions (Oct
15th 2025).
·    
Adult DMG Report - Salford Supported
Employment – New Service Commissioning Intentions
(Oct  16th
2025).
·    
LMB Report (Lead Member
for Skills & Work and Business Support) - Salford Supported
Employment – New Service Commissioning Intentions (Oct
22nd 2025).
·    
LMB Report (Lead Member
for Adult Social Care and Health) - Salford Supported Employment
– New Service Commissioning Intentions (Oct
29th  2025).
·    
Procurement Board
Report – Approval to go out to competition for a new Salford
Supported Employment Service (10th Nov 2025).
·    
Equalities Impact
Assessment – Supported Employment Service.
·    
Place Executive
Director Report - Approval to Award the
Contract to provide a new Salford Supported Employment Service
(February 11th 2026).
·    
LMB Report (Lead Member for Skills & Work
and Business Support) - Approval to Award the Contract to
provide a new Salford Supported Employment Service (February
11th 2026).
 
Contact Officers:
Dave
Timperley, Skills and Work Commissioning Manager: 0161 793
2533
Alison
Burnett, Head of Skills and Work: 0161 793 2535
Nicola Griffiths, Commissioning
Officer: 07811 609 400
 
Please delete from the bullets
below any which are not relevant:
·    
The Lead
Member for Skills & Work and Business Support has been
consulted and is supportive of the proposed contract.
·    
This matter is also subject to consideration by the
Lead Member for Adult Social Care and
Health. The Lead Member has been consulted and is supportive
of the proposed contract.
·    
The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the
decision is the Growth and Prosperity.
 
 

Signed:    Cllr J
Youd         Dated:    23 February
2026.
         
   Lead Member
 

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE
ONLY:
 
*         This
decision was published on 24
February 2026.
*         This
decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 3 March 2026 unless it is called-in in accordance
with the Decision Making Process Rules.