ADU25144 Community Equipment Service

Due to the current contract being terminated as a result of the incumbent supplier notifying us and 40 other local authorities on 23/06/2025 that unless we collectively made a substantial financial contribution they would be unable to continue to provide the service.

The request made by the incumbent supplier would have been deemed a significant modification and therefore not permitted under PCR 2015, therefore we gave 3 months notice of termination and have been subsequently advised by the incumbent that they will cease delivering on 31/07/2025 two months before the end date in the notice of termination.

The service needs to be maintained to support timely discharge from hospital and end of life care for individuals within their own homes.

To ensure continuity of service, we entered into discussions with prospective alternative providers of which there are two main organisation in the market currently delivering these services on a large scale.

Due to the number of authorities in this position, the alternative providers agreed a geographical split for taking on the contracts and Torbay Council falls within the region allocated to Millbrook who have a base within Devon.

Due to the short notice provided by the incumbent it is impossible to tender the contract within the timescales and ensure continuity of service. Therefore the Council has made the decision to direct award under Section 41 and Sections 13 and 14 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 to Millbrook.

The new contract will be for a period of 3 years which the remaining term on the original contract and will allow the new provider to mobilise and embed the contract as they are taking on significant financial and resource risk due to the uncertainties around the incumbent providers financial position.

This timeframe also allows the Council and Millbrook to focus on effective mobilisation of the contract during the first 12 months and to then give sufficient time for a re-procurement to be undertaken.