Report of Executive Director (Adults and Communities)

The Cabinet considered a report of the Executive Director (Adults and Communities) recommending an extension to the current contract for Healthwatch Southend, which was due to expire on 31^st March 2025.

Resolved:

That the current Healthwatch Southend contract be extended for up to 24 months (or any part therein) until 31st March 2027 at a price of £125,050 per annum, subject to all necessary steps being undertaken to negotiate and finalise the extension of this contract.

Reasons for decision:

To extend the current contract for Healthwatch Southend. Following review of service activity and performance and feedback, the commissioning team are satisfied that delivery against the service objectives and broader service performance is positive and the provider has demonstrated the ability to adapt delivery to meet service needs and respond proactively to areas requiring improvement.

Other options:

1. Decommission the service. This is not recommended as this is a statutory service which will need to be replaced with some level of provision to meet minimum requirements.

2. Go out to tender for a new/ revised service specification. This is not recommended as the current provider is performing well and going out to tender risks destabilising service delivery and using staff resource with no evidence of any benefits while there is option to extend within the existing contract.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Not eligible for call-in

Cabinet Member: Cllr Sadza

The Committee received a report from the Executive Director (Adults & Communities), by way of pre-Cabinet Scrutiny, that set out the commissioning of the local Healthwatch service. 

The Committee asked the below question which the Cabinet Member for Social Care and Healthier Communities undertook to provide a written response:

·         How many individuals did Healthwatch engage with annually, and whether any demographic data was collected.

The Chair requested that in future contract monitoring reporting, that further detail on how many people were completing the surveys be provided, so that statistics were presented in numerical form rather than calculated as percentages.  

The People Scrutiny Committee thanked Healthwatch Southend for delivering an excellent service representing the interests of residents and in the collection of valuable data.

Resolved:

That the report to Cabinet be noted.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Cabinet Member: Councillor M Sadza (Social Care and Healthier Communities)