Decision details

(i)  To support the recommendation to carry out a procurement of

    Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse services for period of 7 years

    (5+2) for a total value of up to £3,430,000 (£490,000, p/a) using

    existing and available budgets of which £344,000 is SCC and CCG

    funding and £146,000 Office of Police and Crime Commissioner

    funding.

(ii)   To note, in addition to the £490,000, the contract would include the

    potential to vary the current annual value by up to 45% of SCC

    contributions (£154,800 per annum) to respond to new services

     required as a result of the new Domestic Abuse Act, subject to     further approvals.

(iii)  To support the recommendation to proceed to Full Council for final

    decision.

The current Domestic Violence and Sexual Abuse contracts come to an end in March 2022. Approval is required through Council to carry out a procurement for new services.

These services enable Southampton City Council to meet statutory obligations under the Domestic Abuse Act to have support in place for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.

Services to support victims of domestic abuse are crucial to the safety and

wellbeing of many of our residents. Domestic abuse is seen in all sections

of society, regardless of age, faith, education, employment, children, income,

complex needs and any other attribute. Southampton is committed to

providing support to victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse (DVSA) offering support in a time of crisis, keeping them safe from further harm, enabling victims to make supported and informed decisions such as whether to leave an abusive partner, if that is their wish, and gaining practical and/or emotional support to help them rebuild their lives.

This work also supports a number of key strategies such as the Safe City

Partnership strategy and the Health and Care 5 year strategy in their aims to

safeguard victims and improve their wellbeing while avoiding greater

pressures on other services across the system including mental health and

substance misuse.

An extension to existing arrangements has been considered but is not viable.

All contract extensions have now been used. A final option to direct award to

the incumbent providers for a single year was used for the current financial

year. This arrangement, implemented under a VEAT (Voluntary Ex-Ante

Transparency) Notice specified to the market that the arrangement would be

Page 7 for no more than one year. Going back on this assertion leaves us open to legal challenge and reputational damage.

Do nothing has been considered and rejected as it would result in no services

being in place when the current contracts come to an end. Services are

required to meet legal duties under the Domestic Abuse Act.

The option for SCC to provide these services in house has been considered.

This has been rejected because Southampton and neighbouring areas benefit

from a good range of existing providers offering high quality and well respected services. To pursue an SCC led service could mean that we lose

the expertise and variety of provision and strong networks that exist amongst

the external providers. The Southampton First policy has made this approach

a strong consideration but the evidence from our own experience and

neighbouring authorities indicates a strong market geared up to competitively

tender for this contract and deliver quality, specialism and cost effectiveness.

None