Cllr Kieran Murphy had a pecuniary interest in this item and left the meeting.

The Assistant Director, Integrated Services & Commissioning presented the report of the Director of Care and Health which requested approval to award a contract for the provision of the Wirral Independence Service (WIS), at an increased budget cost of £4.9m from £4.2M per year. The commencement of the procurement process at an original budget cost of £4.2M was approved by this Committee in June 2023. The current contract ends in June 2024 and there were no further contract extensions available. The WIS included the provision of community equipment, technology enabled care and response service, carers emergency card, falls pick-up / responder service, falls prevention service, provision of paediatric equipment and education equipment for schools.

Members were reassured that there was an amnesty in place for the return of equipment.

Resolved that:

The Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee approve the award of a 5-year contract (with options for a 3 year, plus a 2-year contract extension) for the provision of the Wirral Independence Service (Community Equipment and Telecare) with a total contract value of £4.9m annually, up to £51m over 10 years to Medequip Assistive Technology Ltd as the highest scoring tenderer in accordance with the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criteria.