The purpose of the report is to seek approval from the Director of Care and Health in respect of the Wirral Advocacy Hub following the undertaking of a procurement exercise.

Provider information is detailed at Appendix 1 (exempt).  This information is commercially sensitive and is restricted by virtue of paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

This matter affects all wards within the Borough as the services cover all residents in Wirral.

Resolved – That

the Director of Care and Health approved the award of the contract for a 3-year term, with two 12-month extension options, for the Wirral Advocacy Hub to Provider A as the highest scoring tenderer (as outlined in the exempt Appendix 1) within the approved budget and in accordance with the Most Economically Advantageous Tender criteria.

There were five organisations who fully completed and submitted a bid. The successful organisation has met the acceptable award criteria and is therefore, the most economically advantageous tender.

To tender out the different advocacy functions in to separate Lots was considered:

·  Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)

·  Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)

·  Care Act Advocacy (CAA)

·  General Advocacy

·  Self-Advocacy

·  Peer Advocacy

However, reverting back to this type of service delivery was not considered to be the best option for people seeking advocacy support as the current model of the Advocacy Hub has proved to be a successful delivery model for the statutory and non-statutory advocacy service.

The provision of the IMHA, IMCA and CA advocacy services is a statutory requirement, therefore a procurement exercise is essential to ensure the Council meet their statutory duties.