Decision details

To approve an exemption from tendering under Contract Procedure Rule 19.8 in respect of a contract for consultancy services to be awarded to UCL.

Oxfordshire becoming a Marmot Place aims to improve the lives of residents and reduce health inequalities. The Marmot approach will act as a catalyst for joined-up action and sustained change, driven by local communities and organisations. It will bring together a range of existing work happening on inequalities and provide increased cohesion, consistent approach and improved effectiveness.

UCL’s Institute of Health Equity (IHE) has considerable experience and expertise in the field of inequalities and being led by Sir Michael Marmot, is in a unique position to support our work in Oxfordshire to address inequalities.

Taking the procurement route of a direct award will allow the Council to mobilise the programme quickly to begin this work at a pivotal time of change within the system. This includes the County Council transformation programme and the ICB re-organisation currently underway. The Marmot Places work is expected to make a significant contribution to Oxfordshire County Council’s ‘Place Maker of Choice’ programme:

• ‘Oxfordshire has sustainable resilient communities’
• ‘Oxfordshire has communities where healthy behaviours are the norm’
• ‘Oxfordshire has an inclusive economy’
• Oxfordshire is a collaborative community with a clear identity and sense of belonging’

The outcome if an exemption was not approved would be that this project would be unlikely to go ahead as the Council would not have the expertise in house to be able to conduct such a robust review and as outlined above going out to competitive tender would not be appropriate.

If this programme does not go ahead there will be a missed opportunity to galvanise the traction within the current system to work together to address inequalities and support the Place Shaper of Choice programme. This would mean that the Council would not have the benefit of having a trusted and well-known academic partner bringing external expertise and credibility to its work, to increase buy-in and engagement with local system partners.