To approve the direct award of a carers support service contract for up to 12 months from 1 April 2018, until a newly designed service can be successfully commissioned.   This will ensure the continuity of services for carers following the withdrawal of the procurement process for the newly designed carers service. The current contract with Herefordshire Carers Support (HCS) is for a fixed term of one year. The existing contract cannot be extended and therefore a direct award is proposed, which will require an exemption from contract procedure rules standing orders.   The service specification for the interim service will be developed as far as possible to align more closely to the priorities in the Joint Carers Strategy.

A recent procurement process has demonstrated that the market does not currently have the capacity and willingness to deliver the new type of carers service required.  Therefore a new carers service will not be available to mobilise from 1 April 2018.  Intensive work is underway to engage in depth with the market, NHS and other partners to establish the best way to deliver a service which enables carers and addresses the priorities within the Joint Carers Strategy.

That:

(a)         a direct award to Herefordshire Carers Support (HCS) of a contract for a carers support service for 12 months and a maximum cost of £160k is approved.

1.           To take no action when the existing carers services contracts cease on 31 March 2018.  This option is not recommended as it would result in no carer specific services being available in Herefordshire from 1 April 2018. In continuing a service from HCS there is an opportunity to strengthen and diversify it, so it aligns more closely to some of the priorities in the carers strategy.

2.           Commission interim services to March 2019 by way of a competitive tender procurement process. This option is not recommended as an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) compliant tender process for the service has recently been undertaken without a contract being awarded. The process demonstrated through the evaluation of tenders that the market is not currently in a position to deliver the service as envisaged.  The timescales involved in a further full procurement process would lead to a significant disruption of services for carers during the spring and summer of 2018.  It would also cause a further level of destabilisation of the existing provider organisation, beyond that occasioned by this proposal.