Decision details

The confidential report of the Director of Customer and Advice Services was presented by the Executive Member (Customer and Advice Services). 

The report set out the proposed arrangements to tender the Handyperson and Minor Adaptations services.  Both services were provided as part of the Collaboration Agreement between the Council and Lancashire County Council (LCC) for the delivery of Integrated Home Improvement Services (IHIS) in Chorley.

Decision:

1.   Approval granted for the Council to tender the Handyperson and the Minor Adaptations service as two separate entities, with each contract to commence on 1st April 2016 for an initial two years, with an option to extend for a further two years to 31st March 2020.

2.   Approval granted for the contracts to be awarded by the Executive Member for Customer and Advice Services by means of an Executive Member Decision.

Reasons for recommendation(s)

1.  The Council has a contractual obligation, through its Collaboration Agreement with LCC, to provide a Handyperson and Minor Adaptation service.

2.  The proposed arrangement to tender these services will ensure that the Council fulfils its obligations.

3.  Tendering the services separately is likely to encourage smaller social enterprises to submit tenders, the prospects of which would reduce if the services were tendered as a combined package.

Alternative option(s) considered and rejected

1.  The option of seeking a waiver to extend the existing delivery arrangements for the Handyperson and Minor Adaptation services was explored but rejected on the basis that there was no reasonable justification for doing this.

2.  The option of bringing the services in-house was considered but ruled out due to lack of capacity within the present staffing structure to deliver the service. In addition there are concerns that if LCC were to withdraw funding in the future there could be significant staffing implications for the Council if the services were delivered in-house.

3.  The option of tendering the services in a combined tender was also considered but rejected. The Council’s research and past experience in tendering the Handyperson service has shown that this is a specialist sub-market which has a limited number of operators, and that a larger, combined tender would be likely to deter social enterprises from expressing an interest in these tender opportunities.