Integrated Community Equipment Service · MILLBROOK HEALTHCARE LTD (00833987) for Oxfordshire County Council (Jul 2025)

A contract is being awarded in accordance with section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 (“PA 2023”) because of extreme and unavoidable urgency.

Pursuant to the Care Act 2014, the Council has a statutory duty to provide the integrated community equipment and telecare services (the “Services”).

The existing provider of integrated community equipment services have notified the Council that they will cease trading on the 31st July 2025 and therefore cease providing the Services to the Council and the Consortium. This was unforeseen and outside of the control of the Council.

This means that it is necessary for the Council (on the behalf of the Consortium) to urgently award a replacement contract to secure continuity of critical statutory Services in Oxfordshire.

This is an exceptional situation where extreme urgency has been brought about by events unforeseeable and not attributable by the Council, making it impossible for the Council to conduct a regulated competitive tendering process within prescribed time limits due to the requirement to secure continuity of critical statutory Services from 31st July 2025.

The Council have considered all options and taken independent advice and have concluded that there is insufficient time and that it is impossible to run a competitive tendering procedure (even on an accelerated basis, or otherwise a call-off from a framework agreement) in time to ensure continuity of the Services with effect from 31st July 2025.

ICES is a very complex service and the market is in a state of flux in response to the financial collapse of one of the leading suppliers. Three years will allow sufficient time for the unplanned transition and stabilisation of the service, commercial shaping of the wider equipment market, subsequent competitive tendering and mobilisation of longer term ICES contract.

A shorter contract would put increased risk on stakeholders and suppliers at a time when they are focussing on establishing, stabilising, and recovering multiple services. There would be significant commercial implications for taxpayers and the public purse, such as capital funding demands and significantly higher overhead / margin recovery from suppliers who need to recoup set up costs on a much shorter timescale.