Procurement of care and support services: best practice guidance - updated June 2021

Annex 6: Flowchart to Help Decision Making for the Continuation of an Existing Service

1. Analyse individual needs and intended outcomes to determine the type of service required and evaluate the existing arrangements for delivering the service.

• involve people who use services and carers in defining their needs and desired outcomes and their views on service improvement and continuity
• review information from people who use services and carers, contract management and service review, regulatory bodies and commissioning strategies to evaluate existing arrangements against best value principles
• assess the needs for improvement and service continuity
• consider available resources

2. Consider the options for delivering the service.

• should the service be provided by means of another arrangement, for example in house?

3. Do regulations and standing orders allow the contract to be awarded without competition?

4. Does analysis of the benefits and risks to service users and service delivery suggest that the contract should be renewed without competition? Consider the options for delivering the service.

• does consideration of the impact that a change in service provision or provider will have on people who use services and carers, continuity or service, regulatory requirements, the quality and cost of the services, the market and the workforce suggest that the contract should be renewed without competition?

• A public body will want to consider the answers to all of these types of questions - and any other relevant considerations on a case-by-case basis - before reaching a decision about whether it needs to compete, or direct award, a health or social care services contract.
• There is no discretion for a public body to directly award health or social care contracts that are equal to or greater than the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 threshold. See paragraph 8.8 for more details about the rules that apply at that level. A contract notice is required in all cases except where the circumstances described in regulation 33 of The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 apply.