Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Children, Education and Young People’s Services; SEND Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2024/312

Contact: Andrea Cochrane, SEND Commissioning Manager,

Andrea.cochrane@oxfordsire.gov.uk

Report by Director of Children’s Services (CA17)

The information in this case is exempt in that it falls within the following prescribed categories: 

3. Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information) 

and since it is considered that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

The annexcontaining exempt information under the above paragraph is attached. 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to:

a)    Approve Oxfordshire County Council (“the Council”) joining appropriate single supplier framework agreements set up by external organisations to enable the Council access to call off contracts with the supplier/s for Educational Psychology services. 

b)    Approve the Council entering call-off contracts under such framework agreements in November/December 2024 and for a budgetary commitment for a period of 3 years

Recommendations approved.

Cabinet agreed that there was not a need to exclude the public during consideration of this item as the details in the exempt annex to the report would not be discussed.

Cabinet had before it a report requesting approval, as per the Council’s Scheme of Delegation and Contract Procedure Rules, to join appropriate Framework/s to provide Educational Psychology Services (EPS), to meet the needs of the local authority for the provision of high-quality Educational Psychologists. 

Educational Psychology assessments and reports were required for children and young people who were being assessed for an Education, Health and Care assessment under the Children and Families Act 2014. 

Councillor John Howson, Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Young People’s Services, presented the report and explained the background to the increased demand for psychology services.

Councillor Howson moved and Councillor Gregory seconded the recommendations, and they were approved.

RESOLVED to:-

a)    Approve Oxfordshire County Council (“the Council”) joining appropriate single supplier framework agreements set up by external organisations to enable the Council access to call off contracts with the supplier/s for Educational Psychology services. 

b)    Approve the Council entering call-off contracts under such framework agreements in November/December 2024 and for a budgetary commitment for a period of 3 years.