Resolved – That delegated authority be given to the Director of Children, Families and Education to enter into a partnership service delivery contract with Halton Council, Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council, and an approved service provider, at the end of the procurement process to deliver a service to support and enable NEET young people to positively participate.

Providing a service to support young people NEET are a vital component and support mechanism to ensure the full discharge of the Council’s statutory duty to support full participation. This service will become more important as we enter the post pandemic recovery phase with young people challenged by competition for jobs, the consequences of interrupted education and social isolation.

There is also significant advantage to being involved in a joint procurement process with the other local authorities across the City Region. The proposal to jointly procure a service across the four local authorities will bring economies of scale which will financially benefit Wirral Council.

The Council could procure its own service independent of the other Liverpool City Region local authorities; however, in doing so Wirral would fail to benefit from: -

a. The financial benefits associated with being part of a much larger commissioning activity where providers can reduce service costs based on economies of scale.

b. Reduced issues associated with tracking and providing consistent support for Wirral young people who travel and / or relocate to other Liverpool City Region local authority areas.