Agenda item

(To receive a report from Emma Golds, Senior Commercial & Procurement Officer, which invites the Committee to consider a report on the Coroner’s Body Removal & Transport Re-Procurement, which is due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison, Community Engagement, Registration and Coroners between 16 and 23 December 2022.  The views of the Committee will be passed on to the Executive Councillor as part of her consideration of this item)

The Chairman invited James Chapple, Head of Registration, Celebratory and Coroners, and Leanne Fotherby, Commercial & Procurement Manager, to present the item, which invited the Committee to consider and comment on the Coroner’s Body Removal and Transport Re-Procurement, which was due to be considered by the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison, Community Engagement, Registration and Coroners between 16 and 23 December 2022.

The Committee was advised that under the Coroners Justice Act 2009, the Council had a statutory duty to provide appropriate and robust arrangements for the collection and return of bodies whose deaths were referred by the coroner for investigation.  It was highlighted that the current agreement was due to end on the 31 May 2023, with no further option to extend. The Committee was advised further that the coroner was happy with the current contracts in place, and it was anticipated that due to the nature of the contract, it was expected that most bids would come from current suppliers, due to the infrastructure currently in place. 

It was reported that the Council was intending to publish the ‘Coroners Body Removal and Transport’ re-procurement in February 2023, as an open tender to ensure maximum engagement with the market and to provide fixed term contracts with sufficient reassurance to both the suppliers and the service of rotas.  The Committee was advised that the contracts would be awarded to the supplier(s) whose tender scored the highest per lot, and which provided the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) against the Council’s chosen award criteria for each lot.  Details of the geographical locations, lots, and contracted hours were shown on page 17 of the report presented.

The Committee noted that the contracts would be expected to run for three years commencing on 1 June 2023, and that there would be an option for the Council to extend by one additional period of two years. 

It was reported that the contract value was £436,000 annually, and that the total value of the five-year contract was £2,180,000.

During consideration of this item, the Committee raised the following comments:

·       Members raised a point in relation to post-mortem service provision which was currently being delivered at Leicester Royal Infirmary and Hull Royal Infirmary and inquired whether there were still plans for the service to return within the county. Officers confirmed that at the time United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) had no capacity to host the service back within the county, however, assurances were given that the Registrations and Coroners’ Service was in active discussions with ULHT on future post-mortem provisions. Members requested that the comments captured reflected the need for resolution as this matter impacted residents who’s deceased relatives were transported out of county, which ultimately caused delays on funerals and caused issues with the requirement of deaths to be declared within a five-day window. Members also emphasised on the costs associated with out of county return transportation and storage outside the county;

·       Members sought clarity and assurances around the streamlining of the service, following contractual agreements being in place, and on the safety of providers accessing and uploading documents onto the Coroners Service portal. Officers clarified that the system in place (WWP) was used by a number of coronial services across England and Wales. In Lincolnshire the system (WWP) had been procured through the official Council Procurement method, and offered a safe and secure system that removed administrative burdens for providers and allowed them to feed directly into the service without any data protection concerns;

·       Members inquired about the level of communication between the Service/Officers and the providers to capture the latter’s views as to how the possible improvements could be made before moving ahead with the contracts. Assurance was offered that an active dialogue was maintained with providers; that feedback was obtained throughout the contract; and that engagement that had taken place with the providers’ involved which had led to the proposed changes; 

·       Further information was sought in relation to existing backlogs and the measures used to address these. Members were pleased to hear that the overall referral rate had reached a plateau and had returned to pre-pandemic levels. It was noted that recently, the service had undertaken recruitment of coroners’ officers which was anticipated to be a drastic mitigation against backlogs. In addition, approval has been obtained from the Chief Coroners’ Office to recruit to the position of the Acting Senior Coroner for Lincolnshire post. Officers noted that a historic record number of inquests heard had been reached during the year with over 500 cases being undertaken;

·       Members suggested that a breakdown of the costs incurred by an exemplar single case would have been helpful to understand better the make-up of the total contract cost and how that was estimated. Members also asked what the price per collection was, and what costs, per bands of miles to be covered by providers, were accounted for and whether costs were expected to change in line with the inflation.  Officers explained that the contract was based on a fixed price for the number of removals and transportations anticipated (approx. £214/collection). Further information concerning current prices by Lot per journey was offered as a follow up action. Assurances were given that inflationary costs were accounted for and were reflected in the contracts;

·       Members inquired what the award criteria was for the providers. Officers explained that award criteria were based around the specifications, how the provider intended to deliver aspects of the specification and was also focused around areas of quality. Officers agreed to provide members of the Committee with the full list of the award criteria;

·       Members expressed concerns on the lack of information provided regarding the capacity of providers to perform their contractual obligations and requested specifications on the type and condition of vehicles used for conveying the deceased and requested assurance that the vehicles were fit for purpose. Officers explained that vehicles were fit for purpose as these were designed to store bodies at the required temperature and each vehicle could hold up to a maximum of 4 deceased persons; it was also acknowledged that providers were expected to use that max transportation capacity regularly to maximise profits. Officers added that the providers were individually assessed as they entered the bidding process and emphasised that the coroner was aware and satisfied that these conditions were met; 

·       Members queried what happened when one of the providers carried out work within the other provider’s area and how they were being reimbursed, to which Officers responded that the rota in place was robust. Cases as such were going to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and appropriate actions would be taken accordingly. Officers also agreed to investigate whether on a contractual level, providers were allowed to be subsidised when they were out of capacity; and

·       Finally, assurance was given that the adoption of proposed recommendations provided continuity to the coronial service function and that the new arrangements mirrored existing ones in terms of case specification and outputs.

RESOLVED

1.      That the report presented be endorsed and that the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison, Community Engagement, Registration and Coroners as detailed on page 15 of the Executive Councillor report be unanimously supported.

2.      That the comments and suggestions from the Committee be passed on to the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison, Community Engagement, Registration and Coroners for their consideration.