Issue - meetings

Background:

This report sought permission to award the procurement of the Medway’s Alternative Provision (AP) for Education Contracts. This Gateway 3 report had not been considered by Procurement Board due to the timeliness of implementation in order to have an alternative provision in place by September, however, the bypassing of Procurement Board was agreed at the Gateway 1 stage.

The new proposals supported the local system leadership sharing collective responsibility for all children, strengthening school resources to continually develop the right skills and knowledge to meet the needs of children and young people presenting challenging behaviours and those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

An Exempt Appendix to the report set out financial analysis in relation to the procurement.

The Council’s decision to award these contracts would be subject to observing the procurement standstill period of a minimum of 10 days in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Council would be unable to conclude any contracts before the end of the standstill period.

Reasons:

Award of the contract will ensure the local authority meets its statutory duty to make arrangements for the provision of suitable education for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education.