The Director of Children’s Services has decided to approve the direct award of a contract to Polaris Children’s Services Limited in the sum of £109,999.98 for a period of 6 months from 1st May 2025 – 31st October 2025 for the provision of Therapeutic Support for Children Looked After (CLA). 

The Director of Regeneration and Place has approved:

1)  an award Chase Services Group Ltd. as the most economically advantageous tenderer, a two-year contract with the option of two one-year extensions to provide suitably qualified and licenced security staff to provide keyholding services, a security response to Council owned buildings out-of-hours and a security presence at Committee and other public meetings on a call off basis at an estimated annual cost of up to £225,000.

2)  that the award be deemed urgent and therefore not subject to the procedure for re-consideration.

The Director of Regeneration and Place has agreed to approve the award of a contract to Jones Lang LaSalle Limited via the Crown Commercial Services Framework for Estate Management Services, Lot 1 Total Estate Management, with a contract value of £223,500 for a term of 18 months.

The Director of Public Health has decided to approve the variation of the contract with Wirral Citizens Advice Bureau Limited ‘for Information and Advice Services’ for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 to the value of £112,266 to provide enhanced information and advice support for people who may be experiencing drug and alcohol issues in line with the provisional delivery and spending plan for Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant (DATRIG) approved by the Adult Social Care and Public Health Committee on 4th March 2025.

The report seeks the authorisation to commence the procurement process for the supply and servicing of 2 Gully Cleansing Machines funded through the Neighbourhoods Investment Fund.

The report supports the implementation of the Council Plan: Wirral Working Together 2023 – 27 and specifically the themes: Protecting our Environment, safe, resilient and Engaged Communities and Efficient, Effective and Accessible Council.

This matter is a Key Decision since it has an impact on all wards in the borough and has an estimated value greater than £0.5M.

The Director of Neighbourhoods has agreed to proceed with a competitive procurement exercise for 2 new Gully Cleansing Machines following identification of the most appropriate Framework. The Framework recommended by Procurement is the NEPO/TPPL Framework as this contains an extensive supplier list with all the main parties listed, it is considered NEPO would provide the most competitive bids given their extensive supplier list. Whilst the delivery of future maintenance of these new machines has yet to be finalised, the Procurement will request servicing costs to cover the initial 3-year period for these specialist vehicles.

The Director of Public Health has decided to accept the award of national ringfenced additional grant funding from the Department of Health and Social Care  in the sum of £352,803 and to vary the contract with the Wirral Stop Smoking Service Provider, ABL Health Ltd, in the total sum of £316,730.70 for delivery of enhanced stop smoking support during the current financial year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

The Director of Public Health has approved the direct award of a contract for a Single Front Door for Volunteering Service to Wirral CVS (charity number 1196584) to support volunteering within Wirral communities, commencing on 1^st April 2025 for 12 months at a total value of £135,000.

The Director of Public Health has decided to extend the Memorandum of Understanding between Wirral Borough Council and the Probation Service North West dated 31 March 2023 and accept further funding from the Probation Service North West in order to continue to provide enhanced support for people with a drug or alcohol treatment need in the criminal justice system and to approve a variation of the existing drug and alcohol treatment contract for Wirral with Change Grow Live Services in the sum of £212,048 for the period 1 February 2025 to 30 September 2026.