Decision details

Before the Committee was a report by the Director for Communities, copies of which had been circulated to all Members and a copy of which is attached to the signed copy of these minutes as Item 9.

The report sought agreement to enter into an inter authority agreement with Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) to deliver a countywide falls prevention programme, as part of the Wellbeing programme of activities, externally funded through the partnership arrangement with West Sussex County Council (WSCC).

An agreement would enable the procurement of a falls prevention programme consistent with other District and Boroughs in West Sussex, to be carried out by MSDC on behalf of Adur & Worthing Councils.

The current contract with an external provider to deliver a Falls Prevention programme contract had been in place since 2019 and was due to end March 2023. The council had been working in collaboration with WSCC Public Health and the other District and Boroughs with the aim of developing and procuring a coordinated countywide evidence based Falls Prevention programme based at District and Borough level, through a single contract from April 2023 to March 2027.

A Member sought clarification in regards to the financial implications of not delivering this work through an inter authority agreement. Officers advised that it was benefits around recruitment rather than financial implications that favoured an inter authority agreement.   

It was proposed that the recommendations be amended to delegate authority to the Director for Communities to enter into the inter authority agreement. The amended recommendations were unanimously supported.

Decision

The Joint Strategic Committee

      i.        Delegated authority to the Director for Communities to enter into an inter authority agreement with Mid Sussex District Council for the provision of a local Falls Prevention Programme from 2023;

     ii.        noted that Mid Sussex District Council had agreed to lead the procurement on behalf of West Sussex District and Borough Councils; tender documents had been drafted in collaboration with the District and Boroughs and WSCC Public Health, with the intention of carrying out market testing with potential providers during November-December 2022, before going out to tender. Due to the timescales there was likely to be a break in delivery from March 2023

Call In:

The call-in deadline for the decision will be 5.00pm on the 16th December 2022.