Decision details

(i)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration, following consultation with the Cabinet member for Adult Care, to award the contract for the Integrated Advocacy Service to the preferred bidders as set out in the report and to enter into contracts in accordance with contract procedure.

(ii)  To delegate authority to the Director of Quality and Integration to progress to contractual and financial close of commissioned services for Integrated Advocacy Services and exercise all further decision making in relation to this re-commissioning.

The current Integrated Advocacy Service, which commenced on 1st April 2015, will end on 31st March 2020 when the current contract expires. 

Following a service review, agreement was given at Integrated Commissioning Unit Management Team (ICUMT) on 9th August 2019 to explore the possibility of a joint procurement approach with Hampshire County Council (HCC), in order to achieve improved cross authority consistency of service and efficiencies that offer the authorities improved value for money.

It was agreed that HCC would lead the procurement with an ICU commissioner and ICU senior sourcing and contract manager contributing to the procurement project group, with advice being taken from SCC legal as applicable. 

The tender was advertised in November 2019 and the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage will be open until 12th December 2019. The evaluation stage will be completed by 18th December 2019. It is now requested that a decision is made to award the tender aligned to the end date of 31st March 2020.

Other commissioning options were considered prior to the decision to jointly tender, for example, continuing to contract with the current provider. However, this was rejected as it did not comply with The Council’s Contract Procedure Rules and the European Procurement Regulations. The advantages and disadvantages of each option were fully considered by the Integrated Commissioning Unit Management Team (ICUMT) and the procurement approach agreed.