·         Verbal update on new delivery model for youth services and tender process

In light of Members’ concerns at the last meeting regarding the evaluation and award of contracts to deliver youth services across the District, the KCC Director of Service Improvement confirmed that some very general information had been sent to Members soon after the meeting which related to awarding the contracts across the County. She had since identified further information about the awarding of individual contracts which could be disclosed to Members. This would include information about the types of service to be provided but would not include the value of the contracts as this information would still be sensitive. Further, it was only once the contracts had been awarded that local negotiations were taking place for the detail of service provision.

The Chairman, with support of other Members advised he did not consider the value of tenders to be confidential after they had been awarded and asked that the KCC Director of Service Improvement reconsider this aspect. He was still unclear on what basis the contracts had been awarded beyond the three questions the Locality Board had been asked to consider.

A Member informed the Officer of his concern for the provision of the Sevenoaks Isolated and Rural Areas contract. The service was due to begin on 14 January 2013 but there was to be no continuity between this and the former Hartley, Ash and West Kingsdown (HAWK) Project provision. Between ten and twelve areas had been identified for provision but it was unclear whether the HAWK sites counted as three distinct areas or just one. If it were one it could lead to a significant reduction in service. Following a meeting between the existing and new providers (CXK and Kent Children’s Fund Network) it had been discovered there had been no procurement of vehicles and staff interviews were only just taking place. There was also concern about the lack of structured engagement with young people.

These concerns were echoed by other Members of the Board. They noted the contracts had been awarded in November 2012 but there was still a lack of detail. The delays in preparing and procuring were too long.

The Director of Service Improvement advised that some delays could be caused by employment law matters and where a new service was taking over an existing building the process had been more simple. The bids had been strong in showing how they would engage with young people. The SDC Head of Community Development added that CXK were happy to engage regarding the details of provision.

It was felt that any information available should be disclosed to Members as soon as possible rather than wait until the following meeting. Subject to the information arising from this being satisfactory, the KCC Head of Integrated Youth was to be invited to a future meeting to answer Members’ questions.

Action 2: The KCC Director of Service Improvement to provide as much information as possible concerning the award of contracts and details of future youth service provision in the District.

Action 3: The KCC Head of Integrated Youth to be invited to a future meeting of the Locality Board.

Action 4: The SDC Head of Community Development to meet with CXK to discuss future provision in the District.

Members did comment that provision in Edenbridge seemed to be going well because of the continuity and that the Sevenoaks Town Youth Council was very happy with the new service.