Decision details

In the past year the County Council has experienced high volumes of requests for nurse-led care for children and young people at short notice and often in emergency situations. No existing framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is available at present to enable the County Council to purchase the type of care that meets the needs of these vulnerable children due to the specialist services required and the short notice periods given (often same day). The Covid-19 pandemic has also increased the demand for emergency provision to support families as part of the Council’s response.

This proposal is to establish a framework for the provision of urgent and specialist support for 4 years, with the potential to extend for a further 4 years. There will be no guaranteed spend through the framework, but the estimated spend over the maximum life of the framework (4+4 years) is £8.5m.

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

(1)The commencement of a procurement process to establish a framework for urgent and specialist support, the contract to start at the beginning of March 2022 with a duration of 4 years and the option to extend for a further 4 years.

(2)The delegation of authority to the Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning to award to the framework, and any subsequent award relating to these contracting arrangements, for the initial 4-year period, and to extend the framework if required.

None