Community Equipment - WCC

The Council is required to maintain access to community equipment services for all eligible residents, and there is a legal duty under the Care Act 2014 for these Services to be delivered. Officers have identified the need for urgent action to maintain the delivery of the Service and to ensure that vulnerable residents can continue to access the required provision.

The need for urgent intervention has arisen following the previous provider ceasing trading, which created immediate operational pressures and a risk to continuity of statutory service. To ensure uninterrupted provision, the Council intends to directly award a contract to the identified supplier under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023.

In relation to the urgency justification under Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, this justification applies for the following reasons:

• The goods and services to be supplied under the proposed contract are strictly necessary to ensure the Council complies with its statutory duties and maintains safe access to essential community equipment.
• The situation has arisen due to unforeseeable events outside of the Council’s control, requiring urgent measures to stabilise service capacity.
• The urgency is unavoidable and was not attributable to any act or omission of the Council.
• There is not sufficient time to carry out a competitive tendering procedure without creating unacceptable risks to the continuity of support for vulnerable residents.

The need to ensure continuity of Services to vulnerable service users provides grounds to rely on this justification and directly award a contract to the identified supplier.