Purpose

A ‘Sufficiency Duty’ is placed on
Local Authorities under the Children’s Act 1989 (Section
22G). The Sufficiency Duty requires local authorities to ensure
that there are sufficient homes within their geographical area to
meet the needs of children and young people in care, and to take
steps to develop residential provision to meet the needs of all
children and young people in care locally as far as is
possible.
 
The County Council has been working with
providers from a range of sectors, including those already
operating in residential care and semi-independent support
settings, to identify options to increase provision in West
Sussex.  A successful trial of a new
‘collaborative approach’ working with providers to
deliver new residential provision over the past 12 months has
resulted in 2 new children’s homes opening within West
Sussex, and one further home, expected to open shortly, offering
new places to live for children we care for (Decision -
CYPLS18 (24/25) refers).
 
Building on this success, it is proposed to
undertake a procurement process to establish a Framework of
providers to deliver further new residential units, thereby
increasing the range and number of available homes for our children
in West Sussex.

Decision

The Cabinet Member
for Children, Young People and Learning has approved:-

(1) The launch of a
procurement process to enable the establishment of a Light Touch
Regime Open Framework of providers to deliver additional
residential places for children we care for. 

(2)The delegation of
authority to the Executive Director of Children, Young People and
Learning to award places on the framework at the conclusion of the
procurement process, in accordance with the evaluation and tender
requirements described and within the financial parameters set out
in this report to providers who meet the required criteria. This
delegation is to include any subsequent awards relating to these
contracting arrangements throughout the Framework duration and to
extend the framework subject to satisfactory performance and
delivery. The Framework is expected to commence in July 2026 to run
for an initial period of 5 years, with the potential to extend for
a further 5 years giving a maximum duration of 10 years.