Decision details

The authority will be extending the existing contract with Avalon for the period of the 1st November 2023 - 31 January 2024. A re-procurement exercise is currently underway and a new contract will commence 1st February 2024.

To extend the notice period for the current North Yorkshire Shared Lives Scheme by 3 months

Shared Lives is a scheme whereby an adult or young person from the age of 16, who needs long-term support, spends time with a host family and shares family life. It offers an effective alternative to traditional care options, such as residential or domiciliary care.

A decision was taken at North Yorkshire County Council Executive in July 2022 to re-procure the Shared Lives Scheme. Further detail regarding the new operating model (including changes to the payments made to Shared Lives Carers) was agreed by Health and Adult
Services Executive (HASEX) on 10th March 2023. Notice has been served to the incumbent scheme provider and the current service is due to end on 31st October 2023.

Due to the complexity of the service, and the need to incorporate the changes to the Shared Lives Carer payment model, a longer procurement timetable is proposed to ensure the market has sufficient time to take account of the proposed service delivery model - and we
achieve optimum quality tenders. In addition, a 4 month implementation period is recommended given the complexity of service change if a new provider was successful in the re-procurement.

It is therefore recommended that the notice period for the existing Shared Lives Scheme is extended for a further 3 months only

Retain existing notice period: The current notice period issued to the incumbent provider expires on 31st October 2023. To re-procure the service within the timeframe originally proposed would mean that providers would have the minimum 30 day window in which to prepare tender submissions, and the contract handover period would be little over two months. This would be unattractive to the market in terms of both preparing and submitting tenders, and the risks associated with such a short handover timeframe (potential TUPE, establishing an operating base etc) are significant.

Extend the provider notice period for two months: Whilst it would be possible to complete the re-procurement exercise by extending the incumbent provider’s notice period for only two months, this would make the tender submission and implementation period more rushed. It would also mean that contract handover (if a different provider was successful) would need to be finalised over the busy Christmas weeks with a commencement date of 1 January which is a bank holiday. This could also prove to be challenging for existing Carers in terms of transfer of their agreements and working arrangements to a new provider