Cabinet
Subject: Procurement of Cleaning Services for Adult Social Care & Housing
Date of meeting: Thursday 26 September 2024
Report of: Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care
Contact Officer: Name: Steve Hook, Acting Corporate Director – Housing Care & Wellbeing (Care & Wellbeing Lead)
Name: Anne Richardson-Locke, Head of Commissioning, Housing Care & Wellbeing
Tel: 07827 233590
Email: anne.richardson-locke@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All
Key Decision: Yes
Reason(s) Key: Expenditure which is, or the making of savings which are,
significant having regard to the expenditure of the City Council’s budget,
namely above £1,000,000.
For general release
1. Purpose of the report and policy context
1.1. The report seeks delegated authority to conduct a procurement exercise and award contract/s for the provision of cleaning services across Housing and Adult Social Care. The Council has a duty to support vulnerable people in the city and by providing de-clutter, deep clean and regular cleaning services people will be supported to maintain a safe and clean environment.
1.2. Currently teams across Adult Social Care and Housing regularly spot purchase cleaning services from a number of different organisations. As the need continues to grow, a procurement exercise is now required to ensure the services provide value for money and meet the required standards. This is an opportunity to combine the separate arrangements from two service areas within the newly formed Housing, Care & Wellbeing directorate into a combined contract/s.
1.3. This service aligns with all four of the Council Plan outcomes and further detail is set out in 3.3 below.
2. Recommendations
2.2. Cabinet grants delegated authority to the Corporate Director Housing Care & Wellbeing to agree the optional extension of the contract/s referred to in 2.1 subject to satisfactory performance.
3. Context and background information
3.1. Under the Care Act 2014 local authorities have a statutory duty to meet the care and support needs of adults who meet the eligibility criteria under Section 13 of the Care Act. Most people in receipt of Adult Social Care funded services are able to do their own cleaning or receive help from a care or support provider or unpaid carer. In some circumstances, however, a person’s property may become neglected due to a period of ill health, either mental or physical, or due to personal reasons such as use of drugs and/or alcohol. The growth of hoarding has increased significantly since the Covid 19 pandemic and properties can become unsafe due to the volumes and nature of the items hoarded.
3.2. The Housing Tenancy Sustainment service provide support to highly vulnerable residents living in Council homes. This team work with a range of services to enable residents to live safely in their homes. There has been a significant increase in the number of residents with complex support needs impacting on their ability to manage their home and tenancy. This includes a need for the removal and disposal of items from properties and gardens, including hoarded items, household rubbish, bio-hazardous waste and then for a deep clean of the premises. Similar service needs exist for residents living in Temporary & Supported accommodation.
3.3. The proposed services will align with all of the Council Plan outcomes:
3.3.1. Outcome 1: A city to be proud of. Our goal is to deliver an accessible, clean, and sustainable environment that we can all be proud of. The Service Provider will be required to work in a sustainable way and support some of our most vulnerable residents to maintain a clean and safe environment.
3.3.2. Outcome 2:A fair and inclusive city. Homes for everyone. The services will contribute to our commitment to provide improved housing support, prevent homelessness by helping people to main their tenancies and is part of our investment in building and fire safety.
3.3.3. Outcome 3: A healthy city where people thrive: Living and ageing well: Enable people to live healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives & Ensure there is safe, effective, sustainable, and high-quality health and care provision in the city. The services will promote independence and better health and wellbeing and will perform a vital role in monitoring the person using the services and their environment for signs of deterioration in mental or physical health.
3.3.4. Outcome 4: A responsive council puts the needs of its customers – residents, local businesses and visitors – at the heart of everything it does. Feedback from users of the current services and people who refer to them indicate that there is a need for greater professionalism, more sensitivity to the needs of vulnerable people and an ability to manage increasing demand and save money.
3.4. The estimated cost of the annual spend for the new contract/s is £0.500m. This is based on last year’s spend but assuming some growth in demand that will be managed with a more efficient, value for money service. In 2023/24 Adult Social Care and Housing spent £0.500m on domestic cleaning services (£0.367m ASC, £0.133m Housing). This was a 15% overall increase on the previous year and the average monthly spend for this financial year indicates the spend will be similar.
3.5. Last year Adult Social Care purchased regular cleaning services for 61 people and just over 50% of the remaining spend was to supply ad hoc cleans or deep cleans for 91 people. The Housing spend was primarily on declutter and deep cleans (91 jobs), with 77 declutter jobs and 32 deep cleans.
3.6. Engagement with the local market is ongoing in terms of capacity and specialisms, and due consideration will be given to creating Lots in order to reduce any barriers to the involvement of small or medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the process. This may result in the awarding of more than one contract and the decision as to how to run the tender will be made at the procurement stage.
3.7. The identified benefits for this procurement activity include:
3.7.1. A transparent pricing structure that provides consistency and value for money across the different departments.
3.7.2. A simplified referral process and payment process and the end to individual quotations and multiple invoices.
3.7.3. Robust Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), contract monitoring meetings and spot checks to ensure adherence to the contract.
3.8. The new service(s) will comprise of:
3.8.1. Declutter Service.This service will be required when a property is deemed as unsafe due to hoarding. The property will be restored to a standard that promotes safety, health and wellbeing, and prevents loss of accommodation and homelessness. This may also include the clearance of outside areas around the property, especially access routes.
3.8.2. Deep Clean Service. This service will deep clean a property that has become a risk to the health of the occupier(s). Any unsafe substances will be removed and the property cleaned to a high standard.
3.8.3. Regular Cleaning. People referred to the regular cleaning service are likely to be vulnerable clients whose accommodation has previously become neglected. The service will help them to maintain clean, safe, settled accommodation and reduce the risk of homelessness or street-dwelling.
3.8.4. Ad-Hoc CleaningAd-Hoc Cleaning will provide a high standard of cleaning on a ‘one-off’ basis as a way of restoring a person’s accommodation to a standard that promotes safety, health, and wellbeing. This may be required when assistance is needed to prepare or bring the premises up to an acceptable standard but after that the person is able to continue maintaining the premises independently, for example after a short period of mental or physical ill health.
3.9. People in need of these services are expected predominantly to be resident in Council properties or other social housing, but some people may be living in other tenures including owner occupation.
3.10. Families, Children and Learning (FCL) Directorate very occasionally use cleaning services and have also expressed an interest in using the new service(s).
3.11. The specification will provide the relevant detail on the client base, service specifics, plus set out clear criteria for social value and sustainability. There will also be expectations in regard to sensitivity of staff when managing hoarded goods and cleaning and disposing of items. Staff will be expected to be respectful, non-judgemental and avoid negative and devaluing language and behaviours.
3.12. If authority is granted a tender will be issued in November, with evaluations in January and contract/s awarded in April 2025.
4. Analysis and consideration of alternative options
4.1. The option of continuing with the current arrangement is not recommended. The current spot purchase arrangements do not take maximum advantage of the benefits a competitive tendering exercise would bring including the likely resulting value for money and quality standard outcomes.
4.2. Consideration was given to separate contracts for Adult Social Care and Housing but combining them results in larger volumes and will ensure better value for money and economies of scale for the successful organisation/s. It is also a good opportunity to provide joined-up services which are of benefit to the Council, the provider and the people using the services.
5. Community engagement and consultation
5.1. Engagement was carried out with the teams who work with the people who are in receipt of the cleaning services. Key themes of the feedback were that the service will need to:
5.1.1. Proactively work with people to encourage independence whilst being sensitive to their individual circumstances.
5.1.2. Provide a consistent service to people and be persistent with people who may be very hard to reach.
5.1.3. Provide support for the cleaning staff who may witness and work in difficult circumstances.
5.1.4. Work alongside other specialist services such as hoarding, pest control and waste clearance.
5.1.5. Provide feedback to Council Officers where they are unable to reach people to provide the service, if they have any concerns about a person or their family or if they observe a change in physical or mental health.
6. Financial implications
6.1. The spend on cleaning, decluttering and removal costs within Housing HRA, Housing General Fund and Adult Social Care services are largely responsive in nature. For example, there may be a case of abandonment from a temporary accommodation property. Budgets for this type of work are not always identified separately and may be part of responsive repairs budgets, removals and storage budgets and other rubbish clearance budgets. The advantages of the new contract/s are outlined in paragraph 3.7 and should enable the service to obtain better value for money than just purchasing on an ad-hoc basis, given the contract will be for the whole of HCW. This could assist the service to reduce costs accordingly. This will be monitored through the monthly Targeted Budget Monitoring (TBM) Process.
Name of finance officer consulted: Monica Brooks Date consulted: 28/08/24
7. Legal implications
7.1 The Council is required to comply the Procurement Act 2023 in relation to the procurement and award of contracts above the relevant financial thresholds for services, supplies and works. The Council’s Contract Standing Orders (CSOs) will also apply.
Name of lawyer consulted: Siobhan Fry Date consulted: 22/08/24
8. Equalities implications
8.1. An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) is being completed for this commission. There is not enough data collected on people who currently use the services to indicate any disproportionate impact on any protected characteristics or groups. The EIA has, however, identified potential barriers to the service:
· Some people who use the service have limited literacy skills or language barriers.
· Cultural or religious beliefs may mean that people have specific requirements about how and when cleaning services are provided.
· The majority of people using the service will have intersecting needs, often with a mental health need in addition to a disability and may have experienced homelessness, domestic violence, are care experienced or living with addiction. There may be a reluctance to or fear of accepting services.
8.2. To address these barriers, it is important to gather better equalities data and engage with people who use the service to gather feedback essential to understand and address any negative impacts. Processes and documents need to be accessible and staff must receive equalities training to ensure they are sensitive to a range of different needs and work in a person-centred, and trauma-informed way. These requirements are set out in the service specification and suppliers will be expected to evidence how they will comply in their bids.
9. Sustainability implications
9.1. The procurement process will require interested parties to demonstrate how they will support the Council’s work to reduce carbon emissions and become a carbon neutral city by 2030. The successful Service Provider/s must embed circular economy principles throughout the service offering and review this on an ongoing basis to improve performance.
9.2. Sustainability will form part of the evaluation of tender submissions, and a minimum of 10% of the overall quality score.
10. Health and wellbeing implications
10.1. The proposed plan and investment will have a strong alignment with the
Council Plan Outcome 3: A healthy city where people thrive. For further detail see 3.3.3 above.
11. Procurement implications
11.1. A competitive procurement exercise compliant with the new Procurement Act (2023) (replacing the Public Contract Regulations (2015)) will satisfy the requirements of our Contract Standing Orders and provide an opportunity to bring several services under contract. Market engagement will involve local suppliers, and give due consideration to SMEs. The finalised contract structure will be focused on best meeting the needs of those using the services and will drive value for money, environmental sustainability and Social Value outcomes in line with Council priorities.
Name of Procurement specialist consulted: Andrew Phillips
Date consulted: 19/08/24:
12. Social value and community wealth building considerations
12.1. Social value benefits will form part of the evaluation of bids for the contract/s in line with the council’s Social Value Framework, providing 10% of the total quality score.
12.2. At all stages of the commissioning process Brighton and Hove City Council will work in line with The Social Value Act 2012 and consider the economic, social, and environmental improvements from which the local area can benefit. Providers will need to demonstrate how they will achieve or exceed the requirements specified by Brighton and Hove City Council.
12.3. Providers will be asked to provide evidence of how the service will maximise social value and impact on local priorities and meet the following outcomes:
12.3.1. More local people in employment.
12.3.2. Support equality, diversity, and inclusion for all people with protected characteristics.
12.3.3. Enable people to live healthy, happy and fulfilling lives and live independently.
13. Crime and disorder implications
13.1. There are no crime and disorder implications.
14. Conclusion
14.1. The recommendation to Cabinet is to delegate authority to procure and award a de-clutter, deep clean and ongoing cleaning service/s as detailed in the report.
14.2. It is critical for both Adult Social Care and Housing services to be able to work with reliable companies to help deliver essential services to vulnerable residents in the city, with some living in council homes.
14.3. This new provision will assist the Council to enable residents to live independently and safely in their homes, whilst enabling us to fulfil our duties under the legislation referenced in the body of the report.