Older People's Residential & Nursing Care Strategic Delivery Request for Information

Description

Surrey County Council (SCC) is undertaking preliminary market engagement to explore, on an indicative basis, provider appetite for delivering enhanced residential care under short term, standardised block care contracts. This activity is being carried out to inform future options and does not represent a confirmed commissioning direction. As part of this exploratory engagement, SCC also wishes to understand the potential feasibility of including Facilities Management (FM) and building management responsibilities within any future model. This represents a shift away from the Council's Older People's Residential and Nursing Care Delivery in Surrey, which was launched to the provider market in January 2025 and followed by market engagement from May to August 2025. It reflects a change in SCC's strategic priorities as it progresses through Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), with vesting day planned for 1 April 2027. Implementing potential short-term arrangements will provide the future unitary councils with sufficient time to complete their own service reviews and market engagement processes before determining longer term commissioning decisions. This also ensures that the new authorities are not tied into long term contracts inherited from SCC that could limit their ability to reshape or redesign services in line with local priorities. This approach supports the Council's aim to ensure continuity of safe, high-quality care during the transition. This Request for Information (RFI) relates specifically to SCC's 15 owned care homes across Surrey, some of which may require interim contractual arrangements between January 2027 and March 2030. Several of these homes are also expected to require capital works to ensure compliance with legal and safety standards beyond 2027. SCC is therefore seeking early insight from the market on: • Willingness to operate these homes for a 1 to 3 year period • Appetite to take on building management and capital works responsibilities • Whether SCC may need to consider council funded capital interventions to ensure service continuity This RFI explores market interest in three potential delivery options: 1. Care services only (standard block care contract) 2. Care plus Facilities Management (FM) 3. FM responsibility alone, including the ability and willingness to understand capital or compliance works This is not a procurement exercise and does not commit SCC to awarding any contract.