Issue - meetings

 Report by Carolyn Godfrey, Corporate Director.

 Councillor Keith Humphries presented the report which provided an update regarding the outcome of the recent ‘Help to Live at Home’ (HTLAH) tender process; requested approval to award to the preferred provider(s); and sought authorisation to extend two contract lots with an incumbent Provider.

Issues highlighted in the course of the presentation and discussion included: the input of scrutiny members in the overview of the HTLAH service; how local councillors could be appropriately kept informed where a service needed improving; the actions that could be, appropriately taken by the Council where required and the important role of the voluntary sector.

In response to issues raised by Brian Warwick, the Leader asked that officers arrange to meet to discuss the issues raised by Mr Warwick.

As stated in the report, in view of the urgency involved in determining this, it was agreed that it would not be subject to the call-in process. This process had been instigated in accordance with the constitution and following agreement with the Chairman of Council (Part 8 of the Constitution – Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules - paragraph 41). It was noted that there had been prior scrutiny engagement on this as referred to in the report. The reason for urgency was to enable the Council to complete the formal award process and allow the preferred provider(s) the maximum transition period for implementation of the contract.

Resolved

1.    That the contracts with Somerset Care Ltd are extended for the full extension available, West 2 until September 2018 and North 2 until April 2019

2.    That following the recent tender process that the contracts currently held by Mihomecare and Leonard Cheshire for HTLAH are awarded to the preferred provider(s) identified through the current tender process.

3.    That authority is delegated to the Corporate Director and Associate Director for Adult Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Health (including Public Health and Adult Social Care), to finalise the terms of the contracts and to agree the extension with Somerset Care Ltd.

Reasons for Decisions

(a) To ensure continued service delivery by Somerset Care within the West 2 and North 2 areas.

(b) To progress with awarding the tenders to the preferred provider(s) within the North 1, East 2 and West 1 areas.