The Assistant Director for Early Help and Prevention introduced the report of the Director of Children, Families and Education which sought agreement from the Children, Young People and Education Committee to award and conclude a commission for early help services for children and families, which sought to deliver a variety of supportive experiences which would help Wirral families to thrive.

It was reported to the Committee that the new model would build upon the successes of the Community Matters programme which it would replace, with extensive co-production having taken place with service users and third sector partners to ensure the model was what service users felt was an effective and sustainable early help model. Innovations of the new approach included it being referral free with families making own choices use of self-assessments alongside reductions in waiting lists through the use of online tools.

Clarification was sought on the funding allocation, where it was reported that the initial funding envelope was £0.675m per annum for 5 years but that a further commission had been added into the programme to make it £0.705m.

Resolved – That

(1)  delegated authority be given to the Director of Children’s Services to award the tender to the successful group of bidders following conclusion of the tender process up to a value of £705,000 per annum for 5 years (a total contract value of £3,525,000) with the option to extend for a further 2 periods of 2 years each.

(2)  delegated authority be given to the Director of Law and Governance to negotiate and conclude the contract for the new service in consultation with the Director of Children’s Services.