Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Directive 2014/24/EU
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Torbay Council
Torbay Council Town Hall, Castle Circus
Torquay
TQ1 3DR
UK
Contact person: Mr Lawrence Brown
Telephone: +44 1803208977
E-mail: lawrence.brown@torbay.gov.uk
NUTS: UKK42
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.torbay.gov.uk/
Address of the buyer profile: http://www.torbay.gov.uk/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Procurement of temporary specialist Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) workers
Reference number: DN672038
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Torbay Council is currently not able to meet current demand for the requests for new Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP)assessments and annual reviews with the capacity available. There is also a national increase in Request for Statutory Assessment (RSA) requests, Torbay is currently sitting at 40% decision ‘no to assess’, which is higher than the National Average.
The purpose of the project would be to clear the backlog (149 EHCP amendments significantly overdue) and then accurately assess demand vs capacity. Legally, the Council should be making the decision to amend the EHCP within 2 weeks of receiving the Annual Review paperwork and sending out the Amended plan with that decision. This was evidence in case law in 2022.
Therefore, the Council needs to appoint temporary specialist SEND Workers to undertake this work during the next 12 months.
The Council has advertised to its contracted Standing List temporary agency providers, on numerous occasions, with no response. Therefore, the Council wishes to source the four required specialist education/SEND staff directly, via an agency provider, not on the Council’s Standing List. There is an urgency to sourcing these staff due to the services’ task being statutory, and therefore there is no time available to conduct an appropriate procurement process for these temporary appointments.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
343 200.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKK42
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Torbay Council is currently not able to meet current demand for the requests for new Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP)assessments and annual reviews with the capacity available. There is also a national increase in Request for Statutory Assessment (RSA) requests, Torbay is currently sitting at 40% decision ‘no to assess’, which is higher than the National Average.
The purpose of the project would be to clear the backlog (149 EHCP amendments significantly overdue) and then accurately assess demand vs capacity. Legally, the Council should be making the decision to amend the EHCP within 2 weeks of receiving the Annual Review paperwork and sending out the Amended plan with that decision. This was evidence in case law in 2022.
Therefore, the Council needs to appoint temporary specialist SEND Workers to undertake this work during the next 12 months.
The risks of not commissioning a project team would be:
i. Failing to deliver on the safety valve commitment due to not amending EHCP in a timely manner.
ii. Due to the Safety Valve work, there have been an increase in appeals to the Tribunal. If the Tribunal decide that the Council’s Childrens Services ceased an out-of-date plan – it is highly likely that an order is made for a costly reassessment and maintaining of the EHCP.
iii. Failing to make the improvements required for the Written Statement of Action, which could lead to Secretary of State intervention. In our Childrens Services’ OfSTED reinspection it will be paramount that we show improvement in both the quality of our EHCP’s and the meeting of statutory deadlines.
iv. We are not meeting our legal obligations on amendments leaving us vulnerable to financial compensation through Ombudsman complaints.
v. We may not meet our projected EHCP targets for our Safety Valve agreement placing the12.9 million Safety Valve funding at risk.
vi. Children and young people will not have well identified needs and accurately costed provision or ceased when they have met their outcomes.
The Council has advertised to its contracted Standing List temporary agency providers, on numerous occasions, with no response. Therefore, the Council wishes to source the four required specialist education/SEND staff directly, via an agency provider, not on the Council’s Standing List. There is an urgency to sourcing these staff due to the services’ task being statutory, and therefore there is no time available to conduct an appropriate procurement process for these temporary appointments.
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without prior publication
Justification for selected award procedure:
New works/services, constituting a repetition of existing works/services and ordered in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Directive
Explanation:
Torbay Council is currently not able to meet current demand for the requests for new Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP)assessments and annual reviews with the capacity available. There is also a national increase in Request for Statutory Assessment (RSA) requests, Torbay is currently sitting at 40% decision ‘no to assess’, which is higher than the National Average.
The purpose of the project would be to clear the backlog (149 EHCP amendments significantly overdue) and then accurately assess demand vs capacity. Legally, the Council should be making the decision to amend the EHCP within 2 weeks of receiving the Annual Review paperwork and sending out the Amended plan with that decision. This was evidence in case law in 2022.
Therefore, the Council needs to appoint temporary specialist SEND Workers to undertake this work during the next 12 months. The Council has advertised to its contracted Standing List temporary agency providers, on numerous occasions, with no response. Therefore, the Council wishes to source the four required specialist education/SEND staff directly, via an agency provider, not on the Council’s Standing List. There is an urgency to sourcing these staff due to the services’ task being statutory, and therefore there is no time available to conduct an appropriate procurement process for these temporary appointments.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2 Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession
25/05/2023
V.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Panoramic Associates
St. Bartholomews House, Lewins Mead,
Bristol
BS1 2NH
UK
NUTS: UKK42
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the concession and main financing terms (excluding VAT)
Total value of the concession/lot:
343 200.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Royal Courts of Justice
7 Rolls Building, Fetter Lane,
London
EC4A 1NL
UK
E-mail: tcc.issue@justice.gov.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
25/05/2023