Call-In Members’ Presentation

Councillor Sirajul Islam presented the reasons for call-in and proposed alternative course of action on behalf of the call-in members, and added that he and the other call in members were troubled by the apparent haste and secrecy surrounding the Mayor in Cabinet decision on 11 September.

Following questions from Committee members, Councillor Sirajul Islam stated he could not recall a similar instance of a report presented to Cabinet with as little notice: the report in question was published a matter of hours prior to the Cabinet meeting start.

Lead Member’s presentation

Councillor Gulam Kibria Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, supported by Georgia Chimbani, Corporate Director Health and Adult Social Care, set out the context of the Cabinet Decision and reviewed the key elements of the decision, reflecting that:

·         The decision was of critical importance to ensure continuity of and quality of care for the borough’s most vulnerable residents.

·         Executive Members had no direct role in the selection and award process, but had set out the framework and principles underlying the procurement process. Officers had proposed a recommendation for the award of contracts which the Mayor had accepted.

·         Julie Lorraine, Corporate Director Resources, provided more detail on the procurement process. Julie explained that the award decision didn’t need to come to Cabinet and could have been taken as an individual Mayoral decision, but the Mayor had opted for Cabinet consideration to maximise transparency.

·         Whilst regrettably the report could not be presented to OSC in advance of Mayoral decision, there would always be occasions, like this, where the urgency of a matter required exceptions to be made to normal governance and oversight arrangements.

Following questions from Committee members, Councillor Gulam Kibria Choudhury, Georgia, Julie and supporting officers provided more details on:

·         The reason for the lateness and urgency. Whilst officers had been preparing for the report to be presented to 11 September Cabinet, Georgia began at the Council on 2 September 2024. Upon learning of the upcoming decision and report, Georgia wanted to obtain additional detail, background and assurance on the reasons for urgency before she was content to let the report proceed. The date of agreement reached to move forward and make the award was 11 September.

·         The rationale behind the commissioning approach including increasing the number of providers. The procurement process began in July 2023. The new approach was scrutinised at this time by the Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub Committee.

·         The Lead Member confirmed he had received regular updates on the procurement process. He indicated he had full trust in the officers and their recommendations, and he was comfortable with the process to bring the report for decision by the Mayor on 11 September without first consulting OSC.

·         Explained the requirements for CQC registration by providers in LBTH. Officers were content that adequate controls and mechanisms were in place to ensure the quality of services from all providers could be monitored and assessed.

·         Explained that the Council remains a signatory to the Unison Ethical Care Charter. The procurement award was compliant with the charter.

Note from Chair on his agreement for the Domiciliary Care Contract award decision to be taken under the Special Urgency Provision

At this point, the Chair asked the Committee to note that he felt he was given insufficient information regarding the Cabinet report prior to informing officers that he agreed that it was urgent and could not reasonably be deferred. He asked members to note that he was not directly informed that the contract award was approximately £190 million and was not provided with a copy of the full unrestricted report.