Provision of Dementia Residential Care Services and Transfer of Claremont House and Castle Grange (KMCAS-112)

Kirklees Council is undertaking a procurement exercise to transfer two dementia care residential facilities to the independent sector. Key features of the procurement are:

• Freehold transfer of land for the market value of the property with covenant restrictions for 15 years; * Financial model supports transitional funding for initial 5 years;
• Transfer of the businesses as going concerns through a Business Transfer Agreement;
• Provision of dementia care residential services for the existing service users resident at the time of transfer, through a Care Services Agreement.

This Procurement Exercise is for two lots; Lot 1 is Claremont House and Lot 2 is Castle Grange. The Contract will commence on 1st September 2018 for a period of 5 years with the option to extend for a further period, or for successive periods, up to 31st August 2025.

The Council would like the existing residents to be able to remain at the Care Homes for the rest of their natural lives and on the same terms as under the Contract.

Both homes currently each provides 30 residential places and 10 respite beds, however respite provision is not included in the services to be transferred. Therefore this tender offers the opportunity of at least 10 beds, per home, with which to operate any chosen service delivery model. The Council will endeavour to place residents in the Care Homes until the Contract Commencement Date so that the Care Homes transfer to the Successful Bidder with as many existing residents as possible. The Council expects that at the Contract Commencement Date there will be between 25 and 30 residents at each Care Home, although it cannot guarantee such numbers. The Council anticipates that it may change the specification for the Contract during its term.

There are currently 59 members of staff working at Claremont House, and 53 at Castle Grange. All current staff are part time employees with the exception of managers and deputy managers at both homes who are all full time employees. TUPE will apply and employees will be eligible for either LGPS or a broadly comparable pension scheme. The LGPS admissions body will also require a bond.

The Kirklees Joint Strategy for Residential and Nursing Care Homes for Older People highlights that there will always be a need for care home provision; and additionally the Council's Market Position Statement for Older People particularly highlights that there is a local shortage of high quality nursing home care for older people with dementia. The Council is particularly supportive of Bidders whose business models support the market shortage for both general nursing home care and nursing home care for people with dementia. There are a small number of marks available in the evaluation for Bidders who propose to provide nursing care from the Care Homes in future.