Agenda item

In accordance with the decision recorded under Article 1 of this minute, the following item was considered with the press and public excluded.

DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Councillor Dean declared an interest in the following item of business as a Director of Grampian Society for the Blind. Councillor Dean considered that the nature of her interest required her to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

Councillor Leslie declared interests in the following item of business as a Council appointed representative to Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society and also as a service user. Councillor Leslie considered that the nature of his interests required him to leave the meeting and took no part in the Council’s deliberations.

The Council had before it a report by the Director of Social Care and Wellbeing which requested approval to exempt a contract for a Single Sensory Service from the requirements of Standing Order 5 (PART A), to go out to competitive tender and to advertise on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal, on the grounds that the exemption was justified by special circumstances (Standing Order 1(6)(i) - PART A).

The report explained that the Council had a written contract with Grampian Society for the Blind (GSB) to provide services to the blind and partially sighted and had an implied contract with Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society (ANEDS) to provide services to the deaf and hard of hearing. The Council currently funded both services at a combined cost of £481,979 per annum and Social Care and Wellbeing was required to make a saving of £100,000 on the combined services in 2010/11.

The report advised that £72,000 of the required savings had already been negotiated and agreed upon with a Single Sensory Service in mind through a three year contract with GSB. It was anticipated that there would be no annual uplift during the three year period, which would realise further savings throughout the duration of the contract. It was further anticipated that, if the Council approved the recommendations contained within the report, GSB would commence the Single Sensory Service as of 1^st August 2010.

The report added that the Council’s existing contract with ANEDS was due to terminate on 9^th June 2010, and that from this date until 31^st July 2010 the Council would be making a saving of £23,804.56, realising a total saving of £95,804.56 of the required £100,000. It was proposed that in the interim period between the ANEDS contract terminating and 1^st August 2010, the Council would provide a basic service to meet statutory requirements.

The report emphasised that until the Single Sensory Service was functioning, and a contract signed, no savings would be made. It was anticipated that a tender exercise would take nine months to complete and potentially a further three months before a new service provider could have adequate service provision in place. It was for this reason, therefore, that the report requested approval to exempt the contract from the requirements of Standing Order 5 (PART A), to go out to competitive tender and to advertise on the Public Contracts Scotland Portal, on the grounds that the exemption was justified by special circumstances.

The report recommended:-

that the Council -

(a)              note the information contained within the report;

(b)              approve the exemption of the proposed contract with Grampian Society for the Blind for a Single Sensory Service from the requirement to go out to tender and to be advertised on the grounds that the exemption was justified by special circumstances as detailed in the report;

(c)               approve the extension of the existing contract with Grampian Society for the Blind for a further period of three years; and

(d)              approve the extension of the scope of the contract with Grampian Society for the Blind to also cover the services currently provided to the deaf and hard of hearing by Aberdeen and North East Deaf Society, and note that during this three-year period the Council would go out to tender to appoint a provider of a Single Sensory Service.

The Council resolved:-

(i)                 to approve the recommendations;

(ii)               to agree to make available accommodation for people with a hearing impairment to allow them to meet and retain friendship and contacts on a weekly basis;

(iii)             to instruct officers to ensure that there was sufficient specialist social work input for those with a hearing impairment; and

(iv)             to request the Convener of the Social Care and Wellbeing Committee to write to Ms Kathleen Cameron, as referred to in Article 4(B) of this minute, advising her of the Council’s decision.

- PETER STEPHEN, Lord Provost.