Decision details

Worklessness Support Service - Tender Outcome Report

Decision Maker: Director of Regeneration and Place

Decision status: Recommendations Approved

Is Key decision?: Yes

Is subject to call in?: Yes

Purpose:

This report details the outcome of the procurement process for selection of the Worklessness Support Service supplier and seeks authorisation to proceed to contract.

 

The value of the procurement is £1,360,000 for 17 months, with the option to extend for a further 31 months. The total contract value is £3,840,000.

 

Ways to Work provides services that support adults and young people into employment and training and therefore successfully supports the Inclusive Economy theme of the Wirral Plan 2021 - 2026.

 

This is a key decision and this matter affects all Wards within the borough.

 

Appendix 1 of this report is exempt from publication under Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as it contains commercially sensitive information.

 

Decision:

Resolved – That the Director of Regeneration and Place has agreed to approve the award of a contract to Involve Northwest as the Most Economically Advantageous Tenderer  from 1 November 2022 to 31 March 2024, to the value of £1,358,720 for the delivery of the Worklessness Support Service, with the option to extend for a further 31 months.

Reasons for the decision:

The Ways to Work Programme is helping to address worklessness in The Ways to Work Programme is helping to address worklessness in Wirral. Wirral is an area which has had persistent levels of worklessness far exceeding regional and national averages for many years. The Worklessness Support Service is the largest element of the Wirral Ways to Work programme and the service has been identified as an essential activity in the Economic Strategy 2021-2026 to tackle the level of worklessness across the borough. The service delivers accessible community-based services which ensures that out of work residents are provided with the relevant 1:1 support to compete both for jobs currently available in the labour market and for future opportunities created through the wider regeneration programme. This service is directly designed to focus on those furthest away from the labour market and in the most deprived communities in Wirral, complementing the mainstream services provided by the Department of Work and Pensions.

 

The recommended supplier represents the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT).

 

 

Alternative options considered:

Do Nothing: The Council takes no action and does not extend the Worklessness Support Service contract which ends on 31st October 2022. This option would significantly impact the delivery of the Wirral Ways to Work programme as a whole and the worklessness support service element of the programme would cease to operate. This would further impact on the delivery of the wider Ways to Work Programme managed by the Liverpool City Region (“LCR”) Combined Authority.

 

Reduce the contract value and scale of delivery: The wider Ways to Work Programme is delivered by the six constituent Local Authorities within the LCR. The allocation of European Social Fund (ESF) resources and resultant output achievement targets per area were determined through evidence of need and formalised through Grant Funding Agreements between the LCR Combined Authority and each Local Authority. A reduction in scale and value of this contract would reduce Wirral Council’s ability to achieve contractual targets, reduce the level of ESF funding contribution to the borough and impact the performance of the wider Ways to Work Programme across the LCR.

 

Selection of Supplier: Two tender submissions were received and scored as part of the tender evaluation exercise. The other submission scored lower than Involve Northwest in accordance with the MEAT criteria

Publication date: 04/10/2022

Date of decision: 27/09/2022

Effective from: 08/10/2022

Accompanying Documents: