Agenda, decisions and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Andy Gutherson, Executive Director – Place.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

Councillor C J Davie, Executive Councillor for Economic Development, Environment and Planning, confirmed the announcements in the media over the previous weekend, that the Government had announced that as part of the Coronation arrangements, there would be a series of national nature reserves.  He was pleased to confirm that that the first would be the Lincolnshire Coronation Coast, with two designations for areas already in existence.  A formal announcement and dedication was expected in the summer.

The national public path would be renamed in the Kings honour and would be fully open by the end of 2024.

This was an important announcement for the natural environment, and Lincolnshire had a lot to offer, and this would be a great opportunity for tourism. 

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Executive held on 7 March 2023 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing which invites the Executive to consider the procurement of an Integrated Sexual Health Service for Lincolnshire from 1 April 2024)

1.    That a procurement be undertaken to deliver an Integrated Sexual Health Service contract, commencing on 1 April 2024 for a period of five years, with the possibility of a further two-year extension.

2.    That the use of up to £500,000 from the public health reserve as a fund available to the successful tenderer for the Integrated Sexual Health Service contract to assist in the mobilising of an appropriate suite of delivery locations be approved.

3.    That a procurement be undertaken to deliver a Sexual Health Outreach, HIV Prevention and Support Services contract commencing on 1 April 2024 for a period of five years, with the possibility of a further two-year extension.

4.    That a procurement be undertaken to deliver contracts for the provision of Long-acting Reversible Contraception, delivered by GP practices in Lincolnshire, commencing on 1 April 2024 for a period of five years, with the possibility of a further two-year extension.

5.    That the inclusion in the procurement of separate lots leading to separate contracts for Sexual Health Services for North Lincolnshire Council and North-East Lincolnshire Council be approved.

6.    That the entering into of an agreement under Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 between the County Council and National Health Service Commissioning Board (NHSE) for pooling of budgets and exercise of NHSE functions for the commissioning of NHS treatment and care alongside County Council sexual health services provision be approved.

7.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health and the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison, Community Engagement, Registration and Coroners, to determine the final form of the contracts and to approve the award of the contracts and the entering into of the contracts and other legal documentation necessary to give effect to the above decisions.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health introduced a report which invited the Executive to consider the case for re-commissioning Sexual Health Services in Lincolnshire and sought approval to procure new contracts commencing 1 April 2024.  It was noted that the intention was to procure a five-year contract with a two-year extension.

The Director of Public Health summarised the report and advised that the provision of open access sexual health services was a mandatory responsibility of upper tier local authorities under the Local Authorities (Public Health Functions and Entry to Premises by Local Healthwatch Representatives) Regulations 2013.  It was commented that the model in Lincolnshire was complicated and was fully described in the report.  It was noted that the current service, as described in the report, did perform well, and it would be ensured that the new service included all elements of the new national specification.  There would also be an increased focus on the digital offer.

The Consultant in Public Health guided the Executive through some of the specific elements of the Service and advised that the current service was made up of four separate components, the main integrated sexual health service (LISH); sexual health outreach, HIV prevention and support service (SHOHPS); long-acting reversible contraception (LARC); and emergency hormonal contraception (EHC).  Pre-procurement work including stakeholder engagement, service reviews and benchmarking had shown that the current service was performing well, and this intelligence had been used to develop the future delivery model.  It was noted that the proposed future delivery model aligned well to the national service specification.  The proposed model also included a number of enhancements including an enhanced digital offer and a broader self-care platform, but there would not be any significant changes to service delivery.

The proposed budget for the new services was £4.89m for 2024/25, which was a slight reduction on the current budget, but it was expected that any shortfall would be met by partners.  Demand modelling did suggest that the budget was viable, but it would be monitored over the life of the contract in case demand exceeded expectations.

The market engagement demonstrated that there was a fairly limited market of specialist providers that would be able to deliver the integrated service and this exercise had informed the proposal.  In order to maximise interest in the procurement exercise, a seven-year contract was proposed (this was a five-year duration with the option of a two-year extension) as being most attractive to the market.  It was noted that the cost of clinical estate could present a barrier to some providers who did not already have an established infrastructure within the county, the availability of a mobilisation fund was proposed to increase the attractiveness of the integrated service contract.

The Chairman of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee was in attendance and presented the comments of the Committee held on 5 April 2023.  The Committee had considered the report in detail and commented that it was a very good service with a good offer  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.