Issue - meetings

      To receive a report from the Corporate Director - People

That Cabinet: 

1)    Approves option 2 - the recommissioning, procurement and implementation of the Core and Carers elements of the Wiltshire Community Advice and Support Service for a minimum of five years with the option to extend for an additional two years with an uplift mechanism. 

2)    Delegates authority to the Director of Commissioning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure, and Libraries to award the new contract, including the taken of all necessary steps and the production of all associated documentation. 

Reason for Proposals 

Option 2 will give the Council greater consistency of service across the county and theopportunity for more robust contract management.  Only tendering for core and carers reduces the financial risk and pressure to the council if the grants for the refugee programme and Ukraine support were not forthcoming in future years or should the team decide to invest this money in different services. 

A wide range of council service areas make daily referrals to Wiltshire Citizens Advice service and it is a service relied on heavily by Wiltshire residents. Not having this service in place would place unprecedented demand on council teams, who are not currently resourced to meet this demand and customers would not receive as timely as response, should the service be brought inhouse. 

Additionally, Wiltshire Council does not have Financial Conduct Accreditation (FCA) or Advice Quality Standard (AQS) accreditation, which means that it cannot provide specialist advice around debt and housing issues. Further to

this, Wiltshire Council is not a charity, this prevents bidding on Charity specific funding which the current provider uses to bolster services. Not having this service in place would mean Wiltshire residents would be unable to seek specialist financial and housing advice. 

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure, and Libraries, introduced the report which set out proposals supporting the tendering and contract award process for a new citizens advice service, with the current contract due to expire in 2025. The impact on a broad array of services, influence on the council’s focus on preventative action, and details of clients supported by the current service offering was explained. The available options moving forward were detailed as shown in the report.

Cllr Graham Wright, Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee, commented on the assessed options including consideration of in-house provision.

Cllr Gordon King, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, noted and recognised the need for procuring the service offering.

At the conclusion of discussion, and on the motion of Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, seconded by Cllr Richard Clewer, it was then,

Resolved:

That Cabinet: 

1)    Approves option 2 - the recommissioning, procurement and implementation of the Core and Carers elements of the Wiltshire Community Advice and Support Service for a minimum of five years with the option to extend for an additional two years with an uplift mechanism. 

2)    Delegates authority to the Director of Commissioning in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Public Health, Communities, Leisure, and Libraries to award the new contract, including the taken of all necessary steps and the production of all associated documentation. 

Reason for Proposals 

Option 2 will give the Council greater consistency of service across the county and theopportunity for more robust contract management.  Only tendering for core and carers reduces the financial risk and pressure to the council if the grants for the refugee programme and Ukraine support were not forthcoming in future years or should the team decide to invest this money in different services. 

A wide range of council service areas make daily referrals to Wiltshire Citizens Advice service and it is a service relied on heavily by Wiltshire residents. Not having this service in place would place unprecedented demand on council teams, who are not currently resourced to meet this demand and customers would not receive as timely as response, should the service be brought inhouse. 

Additionally, Wiltshire Council does not have Financial Conduct Accreditation (FCA) or Advice Quality Standard (AQS) accreditation, which means that it cannot provide specialist advice around debt and housing issues. Further to

this, Wiltshire Council is not a charity, this prevents bidding on Charity specific funding which the current provider uses to bolster services. Not having this service in place would mean Wiltshire residents would be unable to seek specialist financial and housing advice. 

Cllr Phil Alford left the meeting at 1200 before the vote on the resolution.