Report - Support Service for People with a Head Injury and their Families Carers
Renfrewshire Council · 13 February 2025
Back to Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board — 13 February 2025 and its agenda
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___________________________________________________________________ To: Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board On: 13 February 2025 ___________________________________________________________________ Report by: The Chief Executive and the Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Contract Authorisation Report for Support Service for People with a Head Injury and their Families/Carers (RC-CPU-24-206) ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The purpose of this report is to seek the approval of the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board to award a Contract for a Support Service for People with a Head Injury and their Families/Carers (RC-CPU-24-206) to Quarriers. 1.2 The recommendation to award the Contract follows a procurement exercise which was conducted as an Open Procedure for a Regulated below the GPA threshold for a Social and Other Specific Services contract, in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, related Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 and the Council’s Standing Orders relating to Contracts. 1.3 A Contract Strategy for this Contract was approved by the Head of Policy and Partnerships on the 21 November 2024 and the Strategic Category Manager on the 18 November 2024. ___________________________________________________________________ 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance, Resources and Customer Services Policy Board:
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2.1 Authorises the Head of Corporate Governance to award a Contract for a Support Service for People with a Head Injury and their Families/Carers, reference RC-CPU-24-206 to Quarriers. 2.2 Authorises up to a maximum approved contract value of £300,000 excluding VAT for the full contract period. 2.3 Authorises the award of the Contract for a period of 3 years with no option to extend. The anticipated Commencement Date of the Contract is 1 April 2025; the actual Commencement Date will be confirmed in the Council’s Letter of Acceptance. _________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 In June 2024, Renfrewshire Council committed £300,000 to commission a support service for people with a head injury and their families and carers for a three-year period. This new Contract will support a wide spectrum of needs from non-medical rehabilitation support to ongoing day to day living and signpost those contacting or using the service under the Contract to access an extensive range of wider support services that already exist across Renfrewshire, improving personal and family outcomes in the longer term. 3.2 The procurement process for the Contract was conducted using the Open Procedure for a below GPA threshold for Social and Other Specific Services, in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, related Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 and the Council’s Standing Orders Relating to Contracts. 3.3 A Contract Notice was published on the Public Contracts Scotland website on 22 November 2024. The Invitation to Tender was also published and available on this date from Public Contracts Scotland – Tender. The tender submission deadline was 12 noon on 23 December 2024. 3.4 During the tender period, 13 organisations viewed the tender opportunity; 1 organisation submitted a response and 12 organisations did not respond by the Tender Deadline. Feedback was sought from those who did not submit, responses received included that they could not meet the scope of requirements, lack of resource, or it was not a service they provided.
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3.5 As required by Standing Order Relating to Contracts 11.5, the Tender submission received was evaluated against a pre-determined set of criteria in the form of the Single Procurement Document (SPD), evaluated by representatives from the Corporate Procurement Unit (CPU), Health and Safety, Risk, and ICT Cyber teams. 3.6 The Tenderer confirmed compliance with the minimum selection criteria set within the SPD. The Tender Submission was then evaluated by CPU and representatives from the Chief Executive’s Service and Children’s Services against the published award criteria of 70% Quality and 30% Price. 3.7 The scores relative to the Award Criteria for the Tender Submission are noted below; Tenderer Quality (70%) Price (30%) Total Score Quarriers 54.5% 30.0% 84.5% 3.8 The Tender Submission received by Quarriers met the criteria set out in the procurement documents and was within the Council’s set budget and was therefore deemed to be value for money. 3.9 Community Benefits were requested as part of the procurement process and Quarriers confirmed that the following Community Benefits would be delivered as part of the Contract: Community Benefit Description No of People/ Activities S/NVQ (or equivalent) 2 ___________________________________________________________________ Implications of the Report 1. Financial - The cost for this Contract will be up to a maximum value of £300,000 excluding VAT for the 3-year Contract period and will initially be funded from the Fairer Renfrewshire Fund. 2. HR & Organisational Development - None directly arising from this report.
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3. Community/Council Planning – • Our Renfrewshire is fair – assisting residents to access services, reducing inequalities and empowering people to live fulfilled lives. Place: - working together to enhance wellbeing across communities. Developing local plans that reflect the voices of our communities, alongside strengthening our local partnerships, working together to deliver local priorities. Living Our Values: - delivering best value for our residents. 4. Legal - This procurement was carried out in accordance with the procedures for an Open Procedure for a Regulated below the GPA threshold for a Social and Other Specific Services contract, in accordance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, related Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 and the Council’s Standing Orders relating to Contracts. 5. Property/Assets - None directly arising from this report. 6. Information Technology - The recommended Tenderer was evaluated by the Council’s Security & Compliance team and met the Council’s requirements. 7. Equality & Human Rights - An equality impact assessment (EQIA) has been developed to inform the commissioning of the new service. The EQIA will be published and made available for all stakeholders, however in considering this paper, elected members are asked to note the following summary position. This EQIA relates to the commissioning of a new support service for people affected by a head injury, and their family/carers. In commissioning this service, the Council is seeking to provide support to potential service users, in response to the unmet needs they have identified and communicated following the closure of a previously available support service. A core aim of the service provided will be to provide targeted support and to develop wider supports for people with a head injury and their family carers and as such the identified equalities impacts of commissioning a new service are considered to be positive. The EQIA has identified the potential inequalities which could be faced by someone with a head injury and their family/carer, particularly in relation to disability and
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income, and the EQIA has supported the consideration of these barriers in the design and development of the new service. Throughout the process of commissioning the service, officers have identified barriers in accessing local information in relation to people with a head injury and their family/carers in Renfrewshire. Collecting data about service user demographics has been identified as a key action as part of the EQIA process and we will ensure that equalities monitoring will be part of the wider contract monitoring process for the new service. The provider will be expected to collect equalities data and use it to understand any gaps in provision or specific barriers and take steps to address these. 8. Health & Safety - The recommended Tenderer was evaluated by the Council’s Corporate Health and Safety team and meet the Council’s requirements. 9. Procurement – The procurement procedures outlined within this report shall ensure that the Council meets its statutory requirements in respect of procurement procedures, efficiency, and modern Government. 10. Risk - The recommended Tenderer was evaluated by the Council’s Risk team and meet the Council’s requirements. 11. Privacy Impact - As part of the procurement exercise, a data privacy impact assessment was conducted by the Chief Executive’s Service and the Council’s Information Governance team. Quarriers will also be a Data Controller and will be required to comply with the Conditions of Contract including Data Protection Conditions. 12. Climate Risk – The level of impact associated with the contract services was assessed using the Scottish Government Sustainability Test and is considered to be low impact. 13. Children’s Rights – As a Council we will continue to work to promote equality and raise awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to make sure children and young people’s rights are promoted and reflected in all that we do. The UNCRC has been considered by the Chief Executive’s Service to ensure children’s rights will be protected during the delivery of this Contract. 14. Cosla Policy Position – None directly arising from this report. _______________________________________________________ List of Background Papers - none ___________________________________________________________________
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Author: Alexandra Donaldson, Strategic Category Manager, Corporate Procurement Unit, alexandra.donaldson@renfrewshire.gov.uk