The Cabinet considered the report of the Assistant Director of Place (Economic Growth and Housing) which sought approval to undertake an open procurement exercise to secure suitable provision to discharge the Council’s duties for the tracking and participation of young people, together with a range of other measures designed to reduce the number of young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) and Not Knowns (NK) in the borough.
Decision Made: That
(1) approval be given to a procurement exercise being undertaken, subject to a satisfactory and compliant tender process, to enable a contract to be entered into for three years plus one duration with effect from June 2023 with a qualified and suitable provider to deliver a range of services for young people to secure their participation in education, training or employment; and
(2) the Assistant Director of Place (Economic Growth and Housing) in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Skills be granted delegated authority to award the contract to the winning applicant following completion of a satisfactory and compliant tender process and any extension.
Reasons for the Decision:
The current arrangements for the delivery of the NEET Reduction and Early Intervention Service in Sefton are due to come to an end in June 2023. There is a need therefore to procure a new contract to ensure there is continuity of provision and there is sufficient time to conduct an open and transparent process, ensuring that the new arrangements are commenced seamlessly so as not to disadvantage any young people receiving support in the handover period.
The Council has accepted that investment in this service aims to create resilience and independence for young people to enable them to enter the adult world of work and maximise their potential. Access to such provision reduces the likelihood of young people becoming permanently disengaged, reduces the impact of social and economic exclusion and minimises the risk of requiring more intensive public sector assistance later in life.
Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:
Option 1
The service could be ceased with effect from June 2023. This would mean that the Council would need to rapidly identify other means for ensuring its statutory duty in relation to the tracking of NEET young people aged 16 and 17 and for ensuring the Participation Duty up to the age of 19 are met. Given the complexity of these requirements and the fact there are no staff resources within the Council with the necessary skills and expertise to undertake this work and the Council has no track record of designing and implementing suitable destination tracking systems, this option is likely to deliver lower quality outcomes and yield less favourable value for money for Sefton. In terms of quality, there would be a severely deleterious impact upon service delivery for young people. For these reasons this option has been rejected.
Option 2
A Service could be run in conjunction with three of the neighbouring Councils within the Liverpool City Region as part of a joint outsourcing arrangement. Four of the local authorities (LAs) within the Liverpool City Region (LCR) work together to procure suitable contractors to undertake some similar work to that carried out in Sefton. However, since Sefton has pursued a standalone option over many years, it is not synchronised with this joint contracting cycle. If Sefton were to join this model, it would still need to source alternative provision for an interim period and enter an agreement with the other LAs in line with their timescales, risking further costs and disruption to services. Furthermore, Sefton has developed a localised methodology for reducing NEETs since 2019 that is not in use across the LCR, so there would be impacts on degrees of control, quality and discretion currently held if joint agreements to cover this wider area were entered into, to the potential detriment of Sefton residents. For these reasons, this option has been rejected.