HAC6118 Home Care Services (Domiciliary Care)

The award of the contracts is permitted in accordance with section 41 and paragraph 13 of Schedule 5 to the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis of extreme and unavoidable urgency.

Of particular note:

1. The Council is under a statutory duty to ensure the ongoing delivery of the Home Care Services (the "Services"). The existing contractual arrangements are due to expire on 31 March 2025, at which point the Council will no longer have service providers appointed for the delivery of the Services.
2. On 19 July 2023 the Council commenced a procurement exercise for the re-procurement of the Services (the "Procurement Exercise"). The Council's intention was to ensure a seamless continuation of the Services at the expiry of the existing contractual arrangements (the "Existing Contracts") for the benefit of vulnerable residents.
3. Following the evaluation of tenders received in that procurement exercise, the Council received correspondence from a number of bidders seeking to challenge the outcome of the Procurement Exercise. In view of the alleged breaches of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Council considered the risks in proceeding with the contract award, together with the risks of not securing best value or contracts with a satisfactory level of quality, and the risks and costs associated with any potential litigation. The Council concluded that as a result of these issues there was a change in the economic and factual circumstances surrounding the procurement, and it was considered to be in the public interest to abandon the Procurement Exercise.
4. The Council could not have foreseen the issues identified in the Procurement Exercise that have led to the requirement to abandon the Procurement Exercise and seek an interim provision of the Services.
5. The Council communicated the decision to abandon the Procurement Exercise to all bidders on 6 November 2024.
6. As a result of the unforeseen circumstances noted above, prior to re-procuring the Services pursuant to a regulated procurement exercise the Council has identified a need to undertake a full and detailed review of the delivery strategy for the Services in light of new legislation and new technical solutions. The Council is making preparations for this detailed review to be commenced and anticipates that this process will last for approximately nine (9) months, at which point it will commence preparations for the re-procurement of the Services.

On that basis, coupled with the urgent nature of the Services themselves (being homecare services to vulnerable adults which the Council is required to provide pursuant to its statutory duty), the Council is now seeking to award seven interim contracts to the service providers under the Existing Contracts in order to ensure the continued delivery of these critical services to vulnerable residents (the "Interim Contracts"). The Interim Contracts will be for a finite period, limited to a duration insofar as is strictly necessary in order to allow the Council to undertake a detailed review of the Services and the delivery strategy, and to conduct a fully regulated procurement exercise for the re-procurement of the Services. The Interim Contracts will have a maximum duration of up to two (2) years to allow for a detailed service review (approximately nine (9) months), procurement preparation following the conclusion of that service review (approximately three (3) months), conducting a re-procurement exercise (approximately nine (9) months), and a period of mobilisation following the conclusion of the re-procurement exercise (approximately three (3) months). The Interim Contracts will be awarded on the basis of an initial period of twelve (12) months, with an option to extend by up to a further twelve (12) months whilst the re-procurement exercise is undertaken.

Given the circumstances set out above, along with the Council's key requirement to ensure consistency of service and minimal disruption to vulnerable residents, the Council is unable to re-procure the Services (including the de-mobilisation of the Existing Contracts and mobilisation of new provision to ensure a seamless continuation of the Services) on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure before the expiry of the Existing Contracts.