Slough council’s leader has agreed to award a contract to an alternative provider for assisted living accommodation in the borough after its first choice withdrew.
Extra care housing is a type of assisted living for older people to help them continue to live independently whilst accessing support.
There are two extra care housing schemes in Slough: The Pines in Forest Close and Northampton Place in Northampton Avenue.
Across the two, there are 126 apartments. At Northampton Place, residents have access to a hair salon, gym, library, guest room, cinema, and hobbies room.
But the current contract will end at the end of August.
The council agreed to award a new contract to Agincare UK at its April cabinet meeting.
The three-year contract would have started from September, with an option to extend it for another two years.
But soon after, on May 22, Agincare UK sent the local authority a letter stating that ‘for financial reasons’ the company is unable to deliver the contract.
At a cabinet urgency procedure meeting yesterday (Monday), council leader Wal Chahal (Con, Langley Marish) agreed that Slough Borough Council will instead award the contract to Hales Group – the second-ranked bidder.
Cllr Chahal considered if there would be time to have a special cabinet meeting where the alternative bidder could be discussed in more detail among councillors.
But he decided that this was ‘not practical given the need to mobilise the contract as soon as possible’ to make sure there was no disruption to the service for residents.
Failing to secure a contract before September 1 would also breach the council’s statutory duties to meet residents’ care and support needs, papers presented to the leader said.
“Extra care housing provides self-contained accommodation with on-site are and support, enabling tenants to live as independently as possible, reducing avoidable hospital admissions and supporting timely discharge from hospital,” these added.
The lead member for adult social care, Cllr Anna Wright (Con, Haymill|) supported the recommendations as well.
When the council carried out the original procurement process to find the best provider, Hales Group was the second-ranked bidder.
The company achieved a high combined score for quality, social value and price, a report said.
An evaluation was done before the council’s original decision in April, and all bidders were ‘treated equally and transparently’ at the time.
The fact that Agincare UK withdrew doesn’t invalidate the evaluation process, the papers added.
Ultimately, Cllr Chahal approved the alternative provider, Hales Group – with the contract costing approximately £2.8million over the initial three-year contract period.
If the contract is extended further, this will cost £1.9million over the additional two years.
