Agenda item

The Committee heard from the Homes, Health and Wellbeing Team Manager regarding the request for Member approval to submit a partnership bid to Lincolnshire County Council for continuation of the Wellbeing Lincs service. It was explained that since 1 April 2018, East Lindsey council had been delivering the Wellbeing Lincs contract alongside, North Kesteven, City of Lincoln and West Lindsey councils. The contract was initially awarded for a 5-year term, with the option to extend for up to a further 5 years. Earlier this year Lincolnshire County Council advised of their intention to extend the contract for 18 months through to the end of September 2024 and recommissioning would take place to have a new contract awarded to start on 1st October 2024. 

It was explained that data analysis, as well as regular contract meetings with Lincolnshire County Council, showed the current delivery of Wellbeing Lincs was providing a high-quality service. West Lindsey currently hosted seven roles within the Partnership and Network team and these posts sat within the Homes, Health and Wellbeing Team. As a hosting partner, West Lindsey held a position on the management board which was attended by the Homes, Health and Wellbeing Team Manager and this board reviewed the KPI’s and the Partnership plan to ensure the service was delivering as required under the contract, alongside monitoring the budget and managing any issues arising from the contract which required a partnership decision.

It was highlighted that a procurement timetable had been included within the report, however, this had slightly changed since the publication of the report with an additional two weeks added to the bid submission deadline. This, in turn, had moved all of the dates detailed within the procurement timetable back by two weeks.

The Committee heard that the report also included a section on the financial implications, which focused on the income the contract had brought into West Lindsey over the five years. It did not cover what the income would be should the bid be submitted and successful, as that information was not yet available, however those details would follow in a subsequent paper to the Corporate Policy and Resources Committee and would be required to accept the funding should the partnership bid be successful, with West Lindsey still hold a hosting role as part of the contract.

It was further highlighted that should redundancies occur as part of the recommissioning process, the cost of those redundancies would be covered by Wellbeing Lincs and West Lindsey would not be liable for those costs.

Members were being asked to acknowledge the success of the partnership delivery of the Wellbeing Lincs Contract to date and agree to submit a partnership bid for the Wellbeing Lincs contract.

The Chairman thanked the Officer for her detailed report and invited comments from the Committee. Members expressed their support for the work of the Wellbeing Lincs service, with some Members highlighting their personal experiences with the service. It was acknowledged that in a county such as Lincolnshire, with some very rural areas and differing needs of the population, it would be difficult for one service to meet all needs everywhere. However, the success of Wellbeing Lincs across the district and county spoke volumes of the need for the service to continue.

The introduction of trusted referrers was welcomed, and Members praised the joined up approach with other agencies. It was noted that the value of the service was not simply related to the referrals and positive outcomes, but also the cumulative effect of helping to relieve pressure off other services such as adult social care or the NHS.

With all Members thanking those involved in the service and welcoming the report, and having been moved and seconded, the Chairman took the vote. It was unanimously

            RESOLVED that

a)    the success of the partnership delivery of the Wellbeing Lincs Contract to date be acknowledged; and

b)    the submission of a partnership bid for the Wellbeing Lincs contract be agreed.