Decision details

To approve the procurement strategy pursuant to Contract Standing Order (`CSO`) 18.1, for the procurement of the two contracts for  services which address violence against women & girls, set out in Appendix 1.

To comply with the requirements contained in Contract Standing Orders to seek Cabinet Member approval before a regulated procurement exercise commences.

1.1.            Option 1 – To recommission the services on a shared contract basis as is currently delivered. This is not the recommended option. Whilst there are advantages to such an approach, especially around economies of scale, this would not support the council’s commitment to the disaggregation of shared services.

1.2.           Option 2 – To commission the services on a sovereign basis. This is not the recommended option. Such an approach will impact on the ability to provide specialised services, such as those for women from BAMER communities, as it would not be economically viable to provide the current specialised service levels on a single borough basis. .

1.3.           Option 3 – To commission the services from a shared provider but with sovereign contracts. This is the recommended option for the reasons set out in Section 1.7 – 1.18 of the report. The commissioning model is designed to ensure individual borough sovereignty from a contractual, budgetary and performance management perspective, whilst still meeting need and demand for specialist services and best achieving economies of scale. The option demonstrates a commitment to disaggregation of services, whilst also ensuring that services are still as focussed as possible on the needs of victims and survivors of domestic violence and abuse.