Salford City Council - Record of Decision

I, Councillor Hinds, Lead Member for Finance and Support Services, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by paragraph 2.1(a) of the Contractual Standing Orders of the Council do hereby approve an exception to those standing orders to allow the extension to the contractual arrangements as detailed below:

The extension of the existing contracts with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) into one contract for the financial years 1st April 2011 to 31st March 2013 to provide psychological services to children and young people in contact with Youth Offending Services; young people aged 16/17 years old requiring specialist mental health services; therapeutic fostering services and adopted Salford children and young people.

The extension of the contract with 42nd Street which is jointly commissioned with NHS Salford from 1st April 2011 to 31st March 2013.

The extension of the contract with Barnardos for the Cornerstone Project for the period 1st April 2011 to 30th September 2012.

The Reasons are:

The funding arrangements with CMFT developed piecemeal over a number of years through direct Children’s Services funding or through special government grants with no firm commissioning arrangements in place.

Work has been progressed over the course of the financial year to bring all these separate arrangements together into one contract and one robust monitoring process.

The exact contract amount is still to be confirmed as there is some disparity due to the original agreements not including scope for staff increments and changes in grades.

Therefore it is recommended the 42nd Street contract is extended until that point. Children’s Services and NHS Salford have negotiated a 10% cost reduction for 2012/2013.

Options considered and rejected were:

To end the contracts - without alternative services in place a significant number of children and Young people would be without a service.

To prepare to go out to tender at this point in time - For reasons explained it would not be an appropriate time to go out to tender on any of these services.

Assessment of Risk:

There are strong reasons why the existing contract arrangements should remain while new plans are explored and considered. These are important services for some very vulnerable children and young people and it would be a significant risk to disrupt or stop the services at this point in time.

Legal Advice: obtained from Tony Hatton

It is an established principle that an existing public contract is capable of being extended. There is, however, always a risk that any such extension, if done outside of the usual tender process, could be subject to challenge by an aggrieved provider, on the basis that it ought to have been put out to tender and advertised in accordance with procurement Regulations.

There is in this instance a risk that the extensions of the contracts to March 2013 (for CMFT and 42nd Street), and 30th September 2012 (for Barnardo’s) are seen as a way of avoiding the operation of procurement rules i.e. rather than procuring services from the marketplace, the Council are meeting services in accordance with its existing contractual arrangements.

The proposed extensions may be considered excessive if challenged and whilst it is unlikely there would be a challenge to the contract extensions, it is a possibility.

Reasons for defending any challenge to the extension are presented in the report, such as new plans being explored and considered, the fact that these are important services for some very vulnerable children and young people, and there would be a significant risk created should the services be interrupted or stopped at this point in time, all of which would form part of any resistance to any challenge.

The Council Constitution provides that usual standing orders rules may be waived or excepted by Lead Member for Customer and Support Services record of decision.

Financial Advice: obtained from Ian Johnson

Funding is available through the revenue budgets within the identified cost centres.

Procurement Advice: obtained from Tony Loughman

As these are very specialised areas of service delivery, the extensions requested should pose a low risk of challenge. However, suggested timeframes for putting these services out to tender must be adhered to, and failure to do so will increase that risk.

The following documents have been used to assist the decision process:

·  Previous annual monitoring reports submitted by CMFT on the separate services.

·  Reports to Children’s Services Directorate Contract Overview Group (August 2011 and September 2011).

·  Placement Strategy Report, Children’s Services 2010.

·  Quarterly monitoring reports submitted by 42nd Street

·  Reports to Children’s Services Directorate Contract Overview Group (December 2010, August 2011 and September 2011).

·  Quarterly monitoring reports submitted by Barnardos

·  Reports to Children’s Services Directorate Contract Overview Group (December 2010, August 2011 and September 2011).

Contact Officer: Maggie Maudsley Tel No: 7780505

* This matter is also subject to consideration by the Lead Member for Children’s Services and, accordingly, has been referred to that Lead Member for a decision. / X
* The appropriate Scrutiny Committee to call-in the decision is the Children Young People and Families Scrutiny Committee.

Signed: Cllr Hinds Dated: 28 November 2011.

Lead Member Finance & Support Services

FOR DEMOCRATIC SERVICES USE ONLY

* This decision was published on 28 November 2011. .

* This decision will come in force on 6 December 2011 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.

Key:

# Insert date five days after decision notice is to be published.