Archived decisions
REVISION TO SINGLE TENDER CRITERIA FOR THE AWARD OF CONTRACTS
1. The Executive Member has approved proposals to consult the voluntary sector on the proposed revision of single tender criteria in respect of the award of contracts.
2. The primary reasons for introducing single tender criteria were to:
- give security of service for the mutual benefit of vulnerable service users, the service provider and the County Council;
- to aid Best Value to enable service providers to concentrate on their strengths and core business rather than competing against each other, particularly in the voluntary sector where providers tend to deliver niche community based services in specific geographical localities;
- to aid development of, and provide stability to, voluntary sector service providers in the provision of community care services;
- to provide continuity of service to vulnerable service users on the basis that research has revealed consistently a successful contract is determined by the positive relationship between service users and carers;
- to lessen risk of losing third party contributions to contracts from partners.
3. The current single tender criteria were approved by the then Social Services Committee in 1996 and revised in 1999.
4. The Department has 239 contracts for services, of which 183 (77%) are held by voluntary sector providers. The estimated value of all the contracts is £43.1m per annum.
5. The voluntary sector is therefore critical to the Department's delivery of service. The only sector where there is private sector involvement, in terms of contracts for services, as opposed to individualised spot purchasing, is residential/nursing care and domiciliary care for older people.
6. The social care market for community services is characterised by relatively few providers for each care group, including older people, with these providers delivering niche services in specific geographical locations. The challenge for the future is therefore to expand the service provider base whilst protecting community based services. The only field in which there is genuine competition between sectors is in domiciliary care.
7. It is proposed that future single tender criteria should have regard to:
- those situations where there is clearly not an alternative provider and having to consider bids that are not sustainable
- protecting community based services
- protecting service user led services
- the need to continue to demonstrate Best Value through cost and quality tests.
7. In the past few years, some services have been subject to continual review, emanating from Best Value Reviews, National Service Frameworks, Valuing People and, more recently, the Wellbeing and Modernisation agenda. This process will continue in the future and it would seem undesirable to disrupt existing care arrangements whilst those review arrangements are in progress. Such arrangements will also usually be the most cost effective through not having to incur care management resources in transferring people from one service to another. It also adds to the uncertainty of service users and carers regarding continuity and consistency of service during review periods. It is therefore proposed that the revised criteria should take account of this factor.
9. There are joint contracts services with other agencies, particularly Health, where there will be a need to form a common view on renewing contracts. In a number of cases, continuation of partners' contributions with existing providers may be an important consideration.
10. There will also be situations where it will be opportunistic to commission and purchase new and innovative services but within a restricted timeframe. Some of these opportunities have arisen in the past when government grant money has been available for specific purposes, but expenditure has to be incurred within a telescoped timescale in the financial year concerned, and which precludes a formal tendering process. A single tender process will generally be more appropriate in such circumstances though it does raise the issue of the purchasing approach at the end of any initial pilot period. This could apply to community based services as well as specialist services designed to facilitate hospital discharge or prevention of admission to hospital, and thus support a key performance requirement.
11. The general assumption is that social care services be tendered but there will be instances where it would be more appropriate to procure services via a single tender approach to protect community based services, service user led services and continuity of service where those services are being reviewed. However, there will be a need to ensure Best Value through cost and quality tests and to undertake an appropriate level of advertising sufficient to ensure that non-competitive practice does not apply.
12. This supports all the corporate strategies as it will be applicable to all social care contracted services which, by their nature, will be deigned to deliver safe services, maximise wellbeing and enhance quality of place.