Decision Reference Number: WPCC4-0024
Lead Officer: Sara Ansell
Chief Officer approval: n/a
Date: 17th September 2024
Publication
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Decision summary:
This decision notice seeks approval from the PCC to extend the current contract with Mountain Healthcare to deliver the Children and Young People’s Sexual Assault Referral Service (CYPSARS) in Warwickshire as part of a co-commissioned service across the region, for a further two years, until 31st January 2028.
I confirm that my register of interests declaration is up to date and that none of my interests preclude me from making this decision.
Signature: P.Seccombe
Date: 24.09.24
Supporting information
1. Background information: why do we need to make this decision?
The contract for the jointly commissioned Children and Young People’s Sexual Assault Referral Service (CYPSARS) is currently provided by Mountain Healthcare. The CYPSARS is co-commissioned by NHS England (NHSE), West Midlands OPCC, West Mercia OPCC, Staffordshire OFPCC and Warwickshire OPCC. NHSE are the lead and coordinating commissioner, and the service is provided through the regional Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) network.
An open tender process was undertaken, in 2021 for the service and one bid was received from Mountain Healthcare Limited (who were the current interim service provider). Following an evaluation process, they were awarded the contract, which commenced on the 1st February 2022. The contract is due to expire on 31st January 2026 unless Commissioners choose to utilise the contractual option available to extend the term for up to a further two years (31st January 2028).
To assist Commissioners to make an informed decision, NHSE as lead commissioner has prepared a paper for co-commissioners to consider to enable them to decide whether they favour commencing a new procurement process, or whether they wish to extend the current contract.
The total cost of the service across all available 6 years of the contract is £13.2 million (excluding VAT, mobilisation costs and inflationary uplift), and was set out in the original decision notice WPCC3-009. The costs are split between the co-commissioners in the agreed proportions, as follows:
| % split | |
| West Midlands OPCC | 14% |
| West Mercia OPCC | 7% |
| Staffordshire OFPCC | 4% |
| Warwickshire OPCC | 2% |
| NHS England | 73% |
The annual contribution for Warwickshire in 2024/25 is £48,601, based on the above proportions.
The paper produced by NHSE proposes an extension for a period of 24 months, on the basis that:
- There are no performance or quality issues which would prevent the extension of the contract, as indicated at the time of the initial procurement and included in the contract.
- The service is well established with good recruitment and retention history, and noting that retendering now could impact on staffing capacity.
- Extending will support the refresh of the National Service Specification for Sexual Assault Referral Centres expected December 2024, allowing NHSE to refresh the service specification and retendering process.
- Strong pathways are evident and an extension will enable all pathways to be fully embedded into the West Midlands service delivery.
- Maintaining the existing provider and contract retains a focus on achieving Forensic Service Regulations (FSR) accreditation during 2025.
However, the paper also acknowledges the risks arising from there being a single supplier – Mountain Healthcare for the adult and CYPSARS in the West Midlands, if the contract is extended for a further two years, although a retendering exercise might not necessarily avoid this situation occurring even if a re-commissioning process was favoured.
In summary, there have been consistent improvements for the CYPSARS since the contract went live in 2022, with evidence of good service delivery and performance. The service has reported regular compliments from service users and stakeholders. There are no areas of concern identified via incident reporting, which have led to the termination of the contract being considered, and there hasn’t been any requirement for Commissioners to formally address poor performance in any area of the service, with good performance relating to pathways and stakeholder engagement.
The OPCC has reached out to the Op Soteria lead for the force to confirm these perceptions and seek any feedback. No adverse issues were raised regarding service provision, neither were there any concerns raised with a potential two year extension to the current contract. Further feedback has also been sought from the chief officer team.
Given that there has been no adverse operational feedback from Warwickshire Police, the lead commissioners report on performance and no other specific concerns from a Warwickshire perspective regarding the performance of the provider. It is recommended that an extension is approved.
The intention will be that once a decision has been agreed across all co-commissioners, formal notification will be given to the provider by NHSE as lead commissioner.
2. What additional documents are relied upon? Please provide a link or separate attachments.
NHS England performance report to PCC’s
3. What benefits will this bring, including financial, social or environmental benefits?
The extension of the current CYPSARS contract that was selected following an open market exercise in 2021, will ensure that there is effective support at the point of crisis to children and young people who are the victims of sexual assault. The service includes the recovery of forensic evidence to support the criminal justice process. A co-commissioned service represents the most cost effective way for discharging this responsibility, benefitting from economies of scale and specialist expertise, that would be challenging through other forms of service delivery.
An extension of the existing contract for a further two years, will ensure the continuity of service, with little disruption, for providers and for service users.
4. What is the impact of not approving the application?
An extension to the current contract for a 2 year period will ensure continuity of service, and avoids issues that the lack of a properly contracted CYPSARS would bring. This includes the consequential impacts to children and young people who are victims of sexual assault, and the lack of an effective and high performing service would also severely impact on the ability to collect appropriate forensic evidence to support the criminal justice process. Not maintaining the existing provider may also be detrimental to the ability to achieve FSR compliance by October 2025, further impacting on the ability to achieve positive criminal justice outcomes..
If an extension to the contract is not approved a re-commissioning process would need to be commenced, that would take time and resource, and may not result in any significant change, but may be more disruptive and uncertain for commissioners, the current provider and for service users.
5. How much will it cost? (please provide cost breakdown, including any identified savings, and include where they have been approved)
In the attached report, NHSE refer to annual costs of £2,517,816.97, based on the 2024/25 contract value. Warwickshire would be expected to meet 2% of these costs under the funding arrangements. This equates to £50,356.
The report refers to total costs of £5,035,636 for the life of the contract over the two year extended period (subject to inflation), meaning that Warwickshire would be expected to meet costs of just over £100,000 over this period.
6. Who has been consulted on this proposal?
Warwickshire Police, OPCC management team
7. Will this decision have an impact on any specific individuals or groups or communities?
This service is designed to support children and young people who have been sexually assaulted. A separate service and contract exists for adults. Mountain Healthcare are the current provider for both contracts.
8. Does this decision have legal implications? Has legal advice been sought?
No legal advice has currently been sought. This will be considered if and when extension documentation is produced.
Comments from the Treasurer
The extension of the current contract for a further two years, to end in January 2028, seems reasonable, based on recent performance and feedback received. Regional commissioning produces the most cost effective manner for delivering these services to Warwickshire victims, and also ensures that high quality forensic evidence is collected to secure positive criminal justice outcomes. The annual cost of circa £50,000 is included within the OPCC draft budget and across the medium term financial plan. The disruption and costs of a new commissioning process, for commissioners and service users will be avoided as a result of exercising the right to extend the current contract.
Comments from the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer
This is a prudent decision to secure the future of the service for children and young people.
