Issue - meetings

Housing and Community Services – (C053-2020-21) - to provide an update on Essex County Council’s procurement activity in respect of this service and the subsequent impact on EFDC’s telecare provision.

(1)          The Cabinet noted the update in relation to Essex County Council’s procurement of a new care technology service for adult social care and the subsequent impact on EFDC’s telecare provision; and

(2)          Agreed to the continuation of EFDC’s own telecare service until June 2021 in light of Essex County Council’s postponed procurement activity.

The Housing and Community Services Portfolio Holder, Councillor H Whitbread, introduced the report on the provision of Telecare for the district.

In October 2019 Essex County Council’s Cabinet agreed to invite tenders for the delivery of a county-wide care technology service.

This affected EFDC’s provision of a telecare service to private residents within the District and a paper was brought to Cabinet in June 2020 which recommended the cessation of EFDC’s own telecare service to private residents subsequent to the mobilisation of a new county-wide provision.

Since the onset of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the procurement of Essex County Council’s new care technology service had experienced delays and had also forced reconsideration of the requirements a new care technology service originally set out.

This development did not change the impact of a county-wide provision on EFDC’s own telecare service nor the decision to cease EFDC’s own service once it was mobilised.

However, this development did impact on the original timescales for the cessation of EFDC’s own provision which was originally anticipated to have been by the end of the fiscal year 2020-21.

EFDC’s own provision was now unlikely to cease before the end of Q1 2021-22 to allow for mobilisation of the full county-wide service by June 2021 and the subsequent work transitioning customers from EFDC’s own provision to a different provider to ensure that Epping Forest residents were not left for any period without any telecare provision.

Councillor Murray sought reassurance that our own services could still deliver the services during this extended period. He was given this assurance.

Decision:

(1)          The Cabinet noted the update in relation to Essex County Council’s procurement of a new care technology service for adult social care and the subsequent impact on EFDC’s telecare provision; and

(2)          Agreed to the continuation of EFDC’s own telecare service until June 2021 in light of Essex County Council’s postponed procurement activity.

Reasons for Proposed Decision:

To ensure residents in the District receive continuity of telecare service.

Other Options:

Not to agree the continuation of EFDC’s telecare provision until June 2021 which would mean a potential gap in service provision for District residents who rely on a telecare service to enable them to safely live independently for longer.