Agenda item

            The Sub Committee received a report of the Strategic Director, Children and Young People which sought a waiver of the tendering section of Part 3 of Standing Orders.

            Members were advised that on 25^th March 2008 the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families wrote to Local Authorities notifying them of interim arrangements for the delivery of ‘connexions services’ and assessments for young people with learning difficulties from 1^st April 2008.  The Education and Skills Bill, currently before Parliament, proposed that legal responsibilities be brought into line by affecting the transfer to Local Authorities of the statutory responsibility of ‘connexions services’.

In preparing for implementation of these arrangements in November 2007 the Executive Board agreed a number of actions, as outlined in the report. 

It was noted that progress towards the arrangements had been overseen by a Transition Steering Group which comprised of the Chief Executives of Halton, Liverpool and St Helens, the Directors of Children’s Services at Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral and the Chair was the Chief Executive of Halton Borough Council. The work of the Transition Group received the support of the Liverpool City Leaders Group.

It was further noted that in 2008 legal advice received by the participating Local Authorities indicated that the commissioning of Greater Merseyside Connexions Partnership could only occur for 2008/2009 and that EU procurement regulations would need to be followed from 2009 onwards.  As a consequence work had been underway to secure the commissioning of ‘connexions services’ from 2009 – 2011.

In order to assist in this work support had been secured from the Merseyside Improvement Partnership (MEIP) which had funded consultants Mott MacDonald to advise on the details of the specification and procurement process. The next stage would lead into procurement through a process of open competitive dialogue. 

Members were advised that in December 2008 Executive Board had agreed a number of recommendations in relation to this complex project, as outlined in the report. 

Members were further advised that due the size of the potential contract (over 3 years potentially approximately £50m) and the complexity of commissioning the services across 6 Local Authorities, it had been agreed that dedicated project management was needed to steer the process through open competitive dialogue and to the point of awarding the contract. 

It was noted that in order to fund this work a further bid had been made to the North West Efficiency and Improvement Partnership.  A decision was awaited on this bid but was expected by the end of the month.  In the event of the bid being unsuccessful, the 6 Local Authorities had agreed to underwrite the costs of the project management equally.

All 6 Local Authorities had considered whether they have the specialist capacity available internally to project manage this work and if so to second a dedicated worker to this role. No capacity was available within the 6 participating Local Authorities.

As a consequence of the above it was considered appropriate to return to the previous consultants Mott MacDonald, who had provided consultancy for phase one of the project.  They had indicated that they could undertake the work at a cost of £56,000.  The benefits to them of undertaking this work were the prior knowledge and intelligence acquired on the subject in undertaking Phase one of the work. 

Members were advised that the Operational Director, Preventative Services (CPYD) would remain accountable for this contract and its implementation would be monitored via the Transition Steering Group.

             RESOLVED: That the Operational Director, Preventative Services (CYPD) be authorised to award the contract for additional procurement support to the contractor Mott MacDonald Ltd in the sum of £56,000 (inclusive of expenses and Catalist discount but exclusive of VAT) and that in the light of the exceptional circumstances namely the specialist nature of the services and the knowledge already acquired by the firm under previous Halton contracts and that in accordance with Procurement SO 1.6(b,c) Standing Orders 3.1 – 3.7 and 3.10 be waived on this occasion in view of the matters set in the Business Case.