Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health

The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in relation to approval of a Direct Award Contract for the provision of Care and Support at Parkhaven Court Extra Care Scheme.

Decisions Made:    That:

(1)              it be noted that Parkhaven Trust were successful in their bid to access the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS) for the provision of care and support which members approved in March 2018;

(2)              the award of a contract using the LCR PDPS Purchasing System which allows for the direct award of a contract in exceptional circumstances for the period of 2 years, with an option to extend for 1 further year, commencing on the 1st April 2021, to Parkhaven Trust for the provision of Care and Support at Parkhaven Court Extra Care Housing Scheme, be approved;

(3)              the Executive Director for Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care be granted delegated authority in relation to the making of decisions with regards to the specification, contract terms and referral processes, such decisions will be made prior to the award; and

(4)              the Executive Director for Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care be granted delegated authority in relation to the making of decisions with regards to the 1 year extension.

Reasons for the Decisions:

The land and buildings where the Parkhaven site sits are owned by the Parkhaven Trust, a charity going back many years in the area. Your Housing Group are the Landlord for the Extra Care Housing.

The site is dedicated to people living with Dementia and in addition to Extra Care housing the site has a day service, a brand-new nursing home, offices and a purpose-built respite unit.  Parkhaven provide all the care and support across the whole site and provide the housing management function related to the Extra Care Scheme under an exclusive arrangement with the Landlord.

The LCR PDPS allows direct award of a contract to a provider on the PDPS in exceptional circumstances such as those described above, including “If the provider has a genuine existing exclusive arrangement with the landlord of the scheme” and “where the provider is already providing other services at the premises and it is impracticable / not commercially feasible for another provider to be appointed to the Individual Contract”. Parkhaven have a place on the LCR Extra Care PDPS and this was awarded through a competitive tendering exercise. 

As part of the development of the Councils Strategic Approach to Extra Care Provision, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing have approved an Extra Care Prospectus. This document will set the baseline and direction of travel for the development of Extra Care provision in the Borough and how we will seek to work with Extra Care Housing providers including any new schemes to be developed alongside existing schemes. This will ensure we enable consistency in our commissioning, alignment of specifications, contract terms, processes, pathways and utilise an agreed yet to be developed housing allocations policy. The Services at Parkhaven Court would be considered as part of this work and any future commissioning and procurement needs developed in accordance with the strategy developed.

The Prospectus recognises however that there will be different models and provider configurations which will require different commissioning and procurement approaches to ensure that communities in Sefton benefit from the opportunities these provide.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

An open procurement process was considered for the contract for Extra Care services at Parkhaven Court but was rejected due to the need to ensure stable provision on site whilst further consideration is given to the longer-term arrangements for the provision of Extra care in the borough.