Careline Contract for North Essex

Tendring District Council ('the Council') has a requirement for a monitoring, response, and lifting service to be provided to fee-paying Tendring residents and the tenants of its own sheltered housing schemes; along with a CCTV monitoring service and Out of Hours call-handling service that together maintain the range of services currently and previously provided by the Council's 'Careline' service. As a member of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance, working in partnership with fellow local authorities and health bodies, the Council requires the provision of these services to align with the Alliance's aims and objectives for an integrated health system approach.

Colchester Amphora Trading Limited (Amphora) is a subsidiary of Colchester City Council's wholly-owned arms length trading company Colchester Commercial (Holdings) Limited. It provides the 'Helpline' service which is identical to Careline in respect of its combined provision of a monitoring, response, and lifting service; CCTV monitoring; and Out of Hours call-handling service. As a local-authority owned company, Amphora has established relationships with key public sector partners engaged in the activity of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance, as well as the Police in respect of CCTV monitoring and Colchester City Council in the provision of Out of Hours call-handling - which are integral in respect of future proposals for Local Government Reorganisation which, by 2028, will see Tendring District Council, Colchester City Council, Essex County Council and potentially other neighbouring district Councils merge to form a new Unitary authority with statutory responsibilities, amongst other things, for adult social care.

Through market analysis at the time for determining the award of the contract, Amphora was found to be the only provider capable of delivering the full range of services to the required standard and within an appropriate timeframe that would align with the aims and objectives of the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance and the direction of travel in respect of Local Government Reorganisation. The Council's view is that the services cannot be disaggregated and provided separately; significant inefficiencies and negative staff resourcing implications would arise for the Council from disaggregation. The delivery of the Service was required to ensure uninterrupted service continuity to the older and vulnerable residents (Service Users).

Accordingly the Council has decided to make a direct award to Amphora pursuant to Paragraphs 5 and 6, Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act, in that the Council has determined accordingly that a) competition for the Services is absent for technical reasons and b) due to exclusive rights held by Amphora including its relationship to Colchester City Council and, by extension, the North East Essex health and Wellbeing Alliance, only Amphora can supply the full range of services to the required standard and within the required timescales.