This report will present an overview of the Wirral Well (an online information hub for social care, health, community and wellbeing activities) which has been developed by Voluntary and Community Action Wirral (VCAW) and supported by the Department of Adult Social Services (DASS), NHS Wirral and the North West Joint Improvement Partnership (NWJIP).

The Interim Director of Adult Social Services presented an overview of the Wirral Well, which was an online information hub for social care, health, community and wellbeing activities that had been developed by Voluntary and Community Action Wirral (VCAW) and supported by the Department of Adult Social Services (DASS), NHS Wirral and the North West Joint Improvement Partnership (NWJIP).

He commented that VCAW was Wirral Council’s current preferred voluntary, community and faith sector infrastructure partner and the site could be viewed at www.wirralwell.org and via link from www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/social-care-and-health.

He reported that the Wirral Well site met both corporate and departmental strategic aims, together with the strategic aims of Communities for Health funding and the ability to contribute to and inform the JSNA. The project was ‘live’ and able to work toward meeting those aims quickly, where other options would take longer (approximately 9 months for procurement) or require greater commitment of resources by the authority. £73,060 would cover one years operating costs to enable the expansion and development of the site to meet the required outcomes, which provided ‘added value’ for the Council.

The Wirral Well project was initiated by and NWJIP grant funding and had necessitated DASS and NHS Wirral involvement in its early stages of development. The Interim Director indicated that this had added value to the project which other solutions could not provide and it also meant that DASS was already utilising the Wirral Well to provide social care, health and wellbeing information to people in Wirral. The value of Wirral’s commitment in this matter would not exceed £73,060, and the open market could not provide an equivalent solution for equal or less than this value within the required timescale.

Resolved –

(1)  That approval is given for DASS to utilise £73,060 of the Communities for Health grant to fund the first year development costs of The Wirral Well in the form of grant funding to VCAW; this being conditional on VCAW working together with DASS and NHS Wirral to ensure the site meets the needs of the people and the organisations which use it.

(2)  That financial support for the Wirral Well project be considered an exception to Contract Procedure Rules as stated in 21.1 paragraphs (i) and (iii).