Issue - meetings

This report seeks approval to extend three of the four Locality Home Care Contracts by an additional year, to December 2010.

RESOLVED: That Option 2 be approved.

REASON:      To reduce the risks identified and to allow for better planning to ensure services are commissioned that better meet customers needs and which can offer more choice and control to customers.

Members considered a report which sought approval to extend three of the Council’s four Locality Home Care contracts by an additional year, to December 2010.

All four contracts were due to expire in December 2009, but with a variation option to extend for a further year.  If the contracts were re-tendered, the timetable for the procurement process would extend beyond the existing expiry dates, meaning that interim extensions would need to be agreed.  To avoid this, and to allow time for the More for York team to be fully involved in the procurement process, it was recommended that three of the contracts be extended.  The fourth contract, by mutual agreement with the provider Carewatch, would not be extended.

Members considered the following options:

Option 1 – re-tender the contracts, in line with the original plan, with new services starting in early 2010, having agreed interim contract extensions. 

Option 2 – utilise the variation option, as recommended, to extend the contracts with Goldsborough, Riccall Carers and York Helpers for a further year.

Whichever option was chosen, alternative care provision would need to be put in place for customers of Carewatch.  Plans were being developed for this.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive on this item, it was

RESOLVED: That Option 2 be approved.¹

REASON:      To reduce the risks identified and to allow for better planning to ensure services are commissioned that better meet customers needs and which can offer more choice and control to customers.