Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1 Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Cllr Coban.

Members are invited to consider the guidance which accompanies this agenda and make declarations as appropriate.

2.1 There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Unrestricted Business which will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.

3.1 There was no urgent business to consider.

On occasions part of the Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee meeting may be held in private and will not be open to the public if an item is being considered that is likely to lead to the disclosure of exempt or confidential information. This is in accordance with the Local (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 (the “Regulations”),.

This agenda contains exempt items as set out following the Exclusion of Press and Public agenda Item.

No representations with regard to these have been received.

This is the formal 5 clear day notice under the Regulations to confirm that this Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee meeting will be partly held in private for the reasons set out in this Agenda.  Information) (England) Regulations 2012 (the “Regulations”), members of the public can make representations about why that part of the meeting should be open to the public.

4.1 There were no representations to consider.

At the time of the agenda publication none have been received.

5.1 There were no deputations, petitions or questions to consider.

To confirm the unrestricted minutes of the previous meeting of Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee(CPIC)  held on 8 January 2024.

6.1  Members considered the previous unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee held on 8 January 2024.

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing

Committee held on 8 January 2024 be agreed as a true and accurate record of proceedings.

6.2  Actions Tracker

No.7 CED S286 Extension of Temporary Accommodation Dynamic Purchasing System - Members noted the actions and that the Head of Procurement would liaise with officers and provide an update of the submission date of the report.

RESOLVED:

1.  To agree an award of the City and Hackney Stop Smoking Service contract to Provider A for a period of up to five years (3+1+1) from the 1st of July 2024. The total value of the contract will be a maximum of £5,698,595. This will be made up of up to £3,583,700 in core service spending (An average of £716,740 per year). There will also be up to £500,000 of central government funding to be allocated towards Optional Additional Work Packages and up to £339,978 per annum of additional central government funding to support local stop smoking services (as described in section 6.1 of the report).

Reason(s) For Decision

5.1  This report seeks to confirm the award of a contract for  =a new Stop Smoking Service based on a redesigned service model and specification including an insourced service element.

5.2  This option would seek to incorporate the latest evidence and best practice guidelines, as well as insights that have been gathered from resident and stakeholder engagement and data analysis. For completeness the changes proposed for the new service are detailed below.

5.2.1  Incorporate the latest guidance from NICE including lowering the age threshold from 18 to 12, continuing to offer behavioural support plus medication (now including nicotine-containing e-cigarettes for over 18s only) as the most effective way to support smokers to quit, with support tailored to the specific needs of individual smokers

5.2.2  Integration/alignment of community and hospital-based stop smoking and tobacco dependency treatment service pathways.

5.2.3  Strengthening and extending ongoing support for people to reduce risk of relapse and remain ‘smokefree’.

5.2.4  Increase access to harm reduction approaches for those motivated to reduce their tobacco use but not yet ready to quit in one go.

5.2.5  Specify a revised model for the City element, including new activity targets (and corresponding adjustment to the City contribution to the service budget - see savings section 7), as well as additional capacity provided through the virtual Stop Smoking London portal (available through membership of the London Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Control Programme, funded separately).

5.2.6  Insourcing of an enhanced community engagement function, through recruitment of a dedicated officer to be hosted by Hackney Council. It is proposed this would be a PO7 post and the budgeted amount for this is £80,000 per annum, which is included within the £800,000 financial envelope for this service detailed in the business case. This community engagement officer will work alongside the contracted provider and develop close partnerships with key local high risk/high prevalence communities, building on the successes of the Public Health Community Champions programme. This partnership approach will aim to ensure the service is flexible to the wider needs of priority groups, helping to deliver on the new service's priority objective to reduce inequalities in tobacco related harm. The full scope of work for the insourced community engagement officer will evolve in response to community and service needs, but is expected to include:

·  working with the service provider to build  ...  view the full decision text for item 7.

7.1  Jayne Taylor, Consultant in Public Health introduced the report relating to the award of the contract to deliver the City and Hackney Stop Smoking Service to Provider A.  This contract has been based on a redesigned service model and specification including an insourced service element that took into consideration the NICE guidance and the current national policy context to create a smoke free generation. In addition, a corrigendum notice had been published providing an additional funding allocation for Hackney and the City combined of £339,978 per annum for five years from April 2024. Officers outlined proposed service model and rationale for selection of preferred Provider A.

7.2  Members noted the dedicated officer to be hosted by Hackney Council to undertake the insourced enhanced community engagement function and the ring fenced budget of £50,000 per year for work with Hackney’s priority and high risk groups. 

7.3  Following the introduction, Members of the Committee asked questions which were responded to as follows:

In regard to the allocation of 5% to social value benefits, it was clarified that the total weighting for social value in the contract was approximately 19% and included other social value factors such as inequalities, building capacity, the communities and partnership which had been addressed in the report.

In response to concerns about the environmental impact of single use vapes, it was stated that e- cigarettes were the most effective tool for adult smokers to quit smoking (recognised through the national Swap to Stop scheme currently being implemented locally). A significant amount of work had been undertaken on enforcement including the funding of a Trading Standards Officer to take enforcement action on single use vapes and illegal tobacco, and the government’s response to their recent consultation would also give more powers to deal with vapes. 

In response to a question regarding local opportunities and interaction with Voluntary and Community Sectors (VCS), it was emphasised that the preferred Provider had good provision for apprenticeships and local employment opportunities that included work experience, Royal Society of Public Health training.  The ring fenced additional funding of £50,000 would be allocated for the specific work to be undertaken by local VCS organisations to deliver the Council’s stop smoking service.

The Chair confirmed that the refreshed insourcing and procurement policy would be considering incorporating a separate section on social value benefits and seeking a higher allocation in future reports.

7.4  The Committee thanked officers for securing the additional funding of £1.6m and their work on this project.

RESOLVED:

1.  To agree an award of the City and Hackney Stop Smoking Service contract to Provider A for a period of up to five years (3+1+1) from the 1st of July 2024. The total value of the contract will be a maximum of £5,698,595. This will be made up of up to £3,583,700 in core service spending (An average of £716,740 per year). There will also be up to £500,000 of central government funding to be allocated towards Optional Additional Work Packages and up to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

RESOLVED:

1.  To agree the procurement of up to 11 individual  contracts for youth provision that are delivered through centre based (locality), outreach, peripatetic or detached youth work arrangements. Each contract will run for a period of 3 years from 1st November 2024 with an option to extend for 2 years in yearly increments. The maximum budget for the services over five (5) years will be £3.5m (£700,000 p.a.).

2.  To agree to the extension of 13 existing Connecting Young Hackney, Lot 1 contracts for a maximum period of seven (7) months until the end of October 2024 at a maximum cost of £545K.

Reason(s) For Decision

5.1  The Council’s universal youth provision is currently delivered under a mixed economy of inhouse, and externally commissioned services from a number of Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) organisations. This procurement seeks to contract with a range of providers to continue to complement the in-house offer and secure a comprehensive eco-system of support and opportunity for young people.

5.2  The Connecting Young Hackney Framework was the previous vehicle used to  provide a range of universal youth work programmes for children and young people aged 6-19 (and up to 25 for young people with SEND). The vehicle previously comprised two ‘Lots’; ‘Lot 1’ for Programmes delivered year round to improve the overall quality of life for children and young people in Hackney, and ‘Lot 2’ which was for time limited project based activities that respond to identified local needs. The Connecting Young Hackney Framework expired on 31st October 2020 and since then the contracts for Lot 1 have been individually extended until 31st March 2024 to allow for the completion of the review of Young Hackney and the previous Early Help Review (both of which inform the context for this procurement).

5.3  This report seeks approval for the extension of  seven months for the current individual contracts for Lot 1 in order to ensure continuity of service whilst the procurement process is completed See Appendix 3.

5.4  Following the decision not to extend the Lot 2 contracts beyond the end of October 2020 the monetary value of the procurement programme was converted to a new annual grants programme for children and young people to respond to the changing Hackney landscape, emerging needs, and to encourage engagement with smaller youth organisations. In its first year this programme made 28 grants, the majority of which went to smaller organisations and exceeded the expected total number of beneficiaries.

5.5  The learning from the previous procurement, Council grants programme, Early Help Review, Hackney Young Futures Commission and Review of the Young Hackney Service (conducted Summer 2023) have informed the business case and specification for this procurement. The change of age group for this procurement reflects the recommendations of the independent review of Young Hackney and the findings of the Young Futures Commission. The Young Hackney Review recommends focusing provision on the older age group (10-19) as the area currently with the greatest unmet need. The review also recommends  ...  view the full decision text for item 8.

8.1  Noted the revised Key Milestones timeline within the supplementary papers circulated prior to the meeting.

8.2  Pauline Adams, Principle Head of Service, introduced the report seeking to contract with a range of providers to continue to complement the in-house offer to provide a range of universal youth work programmes for children and young people aged 6-19 and secure a comprehensive system of support and opportunity for young people including key target groups such as Black and Global Majority, SEN  etc and also seeking approval for an extension of seven months for the current 13 existing Connecting Young Hackney providers at Lot 1 in order to ensure continuity of service whilst the procurement process was completed. The services would be provided up to 25 years old for young people with special educational needs and disabilities.  The social value element was 15%  Young people from Youth Parliament and Hackney Young Futures  had been involved in this procurement process.

8.3  Following the introduction, Members of the Committee asked questions which were responded to as follows:

In response to a question about the providers, it was stated that there had been a good response from the market and in excess of 60 providers had bidded for this service.

In response to a question regarding employment and training opportunities, it was explained that it would be useful to have the skills set of young researchers and Young Hackney to understand the needs and deliver appropriate employment access and training for young people.

In response to a question about insourcing,  it was stated that insourcing has not been recommended due to an increase in management and delivery costs as well as the Council not having the infrastructure to facilitate this service.

With regard to the impact on new providers delivering a service from the age of 6 years olds,  it  was stated that Hackney Council had  separately commissioned  adventure play provisions that covered children from 6 years plus. If there were any changes that impacted on the youth service then the Council would prefer to look at a separate process to review the existing provision and enhance delivery.

With regard to all providers being treated fairly, especially new providers and existing providers potentially bidding for a contract, it was stated to ensure fair treatment the technical ability to deliver in terms of youth work practice and methodology and experience were  clearly being set out in the procurement process and if the scores were equal then a presentation would be held. In addition, the requirement and ability to deliver projects of this size and specification would be embedded in the Invitation to Tender to ensure best outcomes for young people.

In response to  a question about the management model for this contract, it was clarified that this contract was specifically focused on  localities and  their primary care networks and existing youth hub provision, which was partly delivered in-house and by the VCS which was  commissioned through a separate tender process. The key neighbourhoods that could  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

Note from the Governance Team Leader:

Agenda Item(s) XX - XX allows for the consideration of exempt information.

Proposed Resolution:

That the press and public be excluded during discussion of the remaining items on the agenda, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

RESOLVED:

THAT the press and public be excluded from the proceedings of the Cabinet Procurement Insourcing Committee during consideration of Exempt items 10- 12 on the agenda on the grounds that it is likely, in the view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that were members of the public to be present, there would be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as amended.

10.1   The exempt appendices relating to item 7 were noted.

11.1   The exempt appendices relating to item 8 were noted.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Exempt Business

12.1 There was no urgent business to consider.