Agenda item

1.         That the framework agreement be awarded to the following three suppliers, for a period of four years to commence on 1 January 2016 and to expire on 31 December 2019:

a.    Lot 1 – Occupational Health Services to be awarded to Team Prevent Ltd

b.    Lot 2 – Employee Assistance Services to be awarded to OH Assist

c.    Lot 3 – Absence Management Services to be awarded to First Care Ltd

2.         That Individual contracts for the Council be awarded to Team Prevent and OH Assist for a period of three years with the option to extend for one further year to commence on 1 April 2016 for:

a.    Lot 1 – Occupational health Services at an anticipated total value of £1.1m

b.    Lot 2 – Employee assistance Services at an anticipated total value of £522,000

3.         That the Cabinet note that the HR service is currently in the process of completing a business case to proceed to put in place a contract from lot 3 of the framework and implement the absence management service within the Council.

Reasons for Decisions:

During a review of the spend and contracts in the Corporate and Human Resources categories across Surrey and East Sussex Councils, an opportunity was identified to collaborate on the design of the specification, align the expiry of the current contracts and retender as a joint contract to appoint the same providers for both Councils.

Following discussion with a number of public sector authorities in the region, it was found that there were several authorities with similar requirements for employee health services whose contracts were due to expire within the next 18 months.  This has created an opportunity to pool volume and approach the market with a larger offering than that of the Council on its own, to achieve better rates through economies of scale.

Following an assessment of a number of options, it was decided that the creation of a framework, led by the Council and open to public sector authorities in the Surrey and East Sussex region would be the most appropriate route to market.

In addition to better rates, through the use of the framework by other authorities, it is anticipated that the common arrangements will provide an avenue for further collaborative joint working such as wellbeing campaigns, co-location of clinics, and proactive sharing of best practice.

The tender was in compliance with the requirements of Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Council’s Procurement Standing Orders. The recommendation provides best value for money for these contracts, following a thorough evaluation process.

This procurement exercise has been carried out in collaboration with East Sussex County Council to secure a single provider to deliver the service for both Councils

via individual contracts for each Council.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview Board]

In the absence of the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience, the Leader of the Council introduced the report.

He said that this report summed up the crucial elements of the Councils’ overall health and wellbeing strategy which was centred around proactively ensuring its employees have the appropriate structures in place to ensure the continued positive wellbeing and that they remained fit for work and, where necessary were helped back to work in a timely and care centred way.

Other Members of the Cabinet confirmed their support for the health and wellbeing strategy and the award of a framework agreement for the provision of Employee Health Services. They were pleased that this was another example of a successful collaborative exercise with East Sussex County Council, and a number of other local authorities in the Surrey and East Sussex regions, which would deliver value for money and that also benefitted staff.

The Leader drew attention to paragraph 51 of the report which confirmed that a further Equalities Impact Assessment was not required because this was not a new service, nor were there any significant changes to the provision of the service that negatively affected staff with protected characteristics.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the framework agreement be awarded to the following three suppliers, for a period of four years to commence on 1 January 2016 and to expire on 31 December 2019:

a.    Lot 1 – Occupational Health Services to be awarded to Team Prevent Ltd

b.    Lot 2 – Employee Assistance Services to be awarded to OH Assist

c.    Lot 3 – Absence Management Services to be awarded to First Care Ltd

2.    That Individual contracts for the Council be awarded to Team Prevent and OH Assist for a period of three years with the option to extend for one further year to commence on 1 April 2016 for:

a.    Lot 1 – Occupational health Services at an anticipated total value of £1.1m

b.    Lot 2 – Employee assistance Services at an anticipated total value of £522,000

3.    That the Cabinet note that the HR service is currently in the process of completing a business case to proceed to put in place a contract from lot 3 of the framework and implement the absence management service within the Council.

Reasons for Recommendations:

During a review of the spend and contracts in the Corporate and Human Resources categories across Surrey and East Sussex Councils, an opportunity was identified to collaborate on the design of the specification, align the expiry of the current contracts and retender as a joint contract to appoint the same providers for both Councils.

Following discussion with a number of public sector authorities in the region, it was found that there were several authorities with similar requirements for employee health services whose contracts were due to expire within the next 18 months.  This has created an opportunity to pool volume and approach the market with a larger offering than that of the Council on its own, to achieve better rates through economies of scale.

Following an assessment of a number of options, it was decided that the creation of a framework, led by the Council and open to public sector authorities in the Surrey and East Sussex region would be the most appropriate route to market.

In addition to better rates, through the use of the framework by other authorities it is anticipated that the common arrangements would provide an avenue for further collaborative joint working such as wellbeing campaigns, co-location of clinics, and proactive sharing of best practice.

The tender was in compliance with the requirements of Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Council’s Procurement Standing Orders. The recommendation provides best value for money for these contracts, following a thorough evaluation process.

This procurement exercise has been carried out in collaboration with East Sussex County Council to secure a single provider to deliver the service for both Councils via individual contracts for each Council.