Decision details

Arising from the Council’s statutory obligations under The Children Act 1989, the Council provides therapeutic assessments and therapeutic interventions for children and young people. This includes the provision of therapies from different disciplines for example psychotherapy, occupational therapy and play therapy.

Currently this need is predominately for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, receiving Social Care support, or in the Council’s Care.

Whilst the County Council and the NHS provide some of these services, the demand is such that a significant amount of provision has to be purchased from the external market and evaluation shows this is a trend expected to continue. In order to meet this demand, it is proposed to set up a Framework to enable the efficient and compliant sourcing of therapeutic services from qualified suppliers.

The Framework will have no actual contract value as it makes no guarantee of business for any provider, however the spend on provision of these therapeutic services in 2020/2021 was approximately £500,000.

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

(1)The commencement of a procurement to set up a Framework to enable the purchase of therapeutic services with an initial term of 5 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years. The anticipated commencement date is 1st May 2022.

(2)The delegation of authority to the Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning to award places on the Framework, and any subsequent award relating to these contracting arrangements, for the initial period and further extension periods as necessary.

None