Decision details

The County Council is committed to giving customers choice and control over their support services; one method of enabling this is through Direct Payments, where the customer receives a cash allocation to spend in an agreed way which will meet their assessed care needs. Direct Payment Support Services are a statutory requirement to ensure that people can receive the appropriate advice and support to make the best use of their money. It also supports the County Council to ensure that Direct Payments are used lawfully and effectively.  

The contract for the current service, extended in November 2023 (Key Decision OKD35_23_24), comes to an end on 13th February 2026. A consultation and coproduction project will be occurring across summer 2024 to identify, appraise options for and propose a model of delivery for the future of these services. The County Council intends to seek agreement from the Cabinet Member for Adults Services to carry out the proposed option to meet this statutory requirement from February 2026. 

The Cabinet Member for Adults Services has approved;

(1)the procurement of a new contract to provide Direct Payment Support Services from 1 April 2026 – 31 March 2031, at a maximum price of £0.350M per annum for an initial five (5) year period with the ability to choose to extend by up to twenty-four (24) months or two separate one-year (12 month) periods, and

(2)the delegation of authority for contract award, arising from this procurement process, described in Section 2 and the budget described in section 5 of the report, to the Executive Director of Adults & Health.

None.