Food Vouchers for Vulnerable Families

The purchase of food vouchers, and the system to distribute the vouchers, for pupils eligible for free school meals over school holidays and other vulnerable families up to the end of the February half term 2021. Leicestershire County Council has been awarded funds from the Governments Covid Winter Grant which must be awarded to families with children for food, energy and utilities and can also be used to support other vulnerable families. This notice relates to the award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union for the reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority.

Explanation:

In line with PPN 01/20 which sets out that, in responding to COVID-19, contracting authorities may enter into a contract without competing or advertising the requirement so long as they are able to demonstrate the following tests have all been met:

1. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency;

The Council received confirmation of the Governments Covid Winter Support Grant on 10th November 2020. In order to have system in place to distribute food vouchers to cover the Christmas holiday period the Council needed to place an order with an appropriate company by 8th December 2020

2. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable;

It is only in the months leading up to winter 2020 that there have been increasing concerns raised about the

provision of food over school holidays for those pupils who are eligible for free school meals particularly in view

of the financial difficulties faced by many as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the Public Contract Regulations;

From the confirmation of the funding to the date by which a voucher system needed to be in place for the Christmas holidays there was no time to run a procurement process in compliance with the timescales set out in the Public Contract Regulations.

4. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority.

Confirmation of the Governments Covid Winter Support Grant was received by the contracting authority on 10th November 2020.