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Independent Non Maintained Special School (INMSS) placements contract extension
Meeting: 29/08/2024 - Children and Young People Policy Committee (Item 11)
11 Independent Non Maintained Special School (INMSS) placements contract extension PDF 121 KB
To seek approval to invoke the two, one year extension clauses in the South West and South Central Independent Non-Maintained Special School framework contract. The initial term of the contract expires in December 2024 and the contract includes the option to extend for up to two years.
Additional documents:
- Appendix B - Equality Impact Assessment, item 11
PDF 103 KB
- Appendix C - Environmental Impact Assessment, item 11
PDF 136 KB
Decision:
That the Committee for Children and Young People
1. Authorises the Executive Director of Children and Education in consultation with the Chair of the Children and Young People Committee to extend the Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System for the Provision of CS0877 South West & South Central Flexible Framework for Independent/non maintained special schools for up to 2 years in-line with the procurement routes and maximum budget envelopes outlined in this report.
Minutes:
The Committee considered a report that sought approval to invoke the two, one year extension clauses in the South West and South Central Independent Non-Maintained Special School framework contract. The initial term of the contract expires in December 2024 and the contract includes the option to extend for up to two years.
The Chair confirmed that this was a key decision because the contracts totalled more than £500k.
The Head of Service - Children’s Commissioning briefly outlined the report. It was confirmed that there was no commitment to spend on this paper. This was for approving a compliant procurement route for already agreed spend and was an extension of the current contract.
Summary of the points discussed:
A Member asked why this appeared to be so expensive. Officers concurred that this was a lot of money. This was partly due to the ratio of staff to children required and because the level of care was high in these placements. The market was said to be calling the shots on costs and was why a joint framework was needed. This meant the costs could be set in advance and kept lower.
It was asked if the costs could be brought down if the provision was brought ‘in-house’. Officers said yes as per the capital projects in the next report, but that would take time. In meantime an extension if the current contract was needed to keep prices down as much as possible.
It was confirmed that the contracts also included specialist advice for children with specific and complex needs.
Officers confirmed that every provider, in order to be part of the framework must pass a quality assurance assessment.
The Chair moved the recommendations as set out in the report.Cllr Hornchen seconded this motion.
The Committee RESOLVED (unanimously) to:
That the Committee for Children and Young People
Authorises the Executive Director of Children and Education in consultation with the Chair of the Children and Young People Committee to extend the Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System for the Provision of CS0877 South West & South Central Flexible Framework for Independent/non maintained special schools for up to 2 years in-line with the procurement routes and maximum budget envelopes outlined in this report.
Note: the vote was ‘8 votes for’ as Cllr Lavan had left the meeting.