Swindon Carers Centre to provide interim services after closure announcement
It will give the local authority and local ICB to look for a new provider to start in 2026
An agreement has been reached between Swindon Carers Centre, Borough Council and local Integrated Care Board.
The local authority say - after 'positive' discussions following the announcement of their closure - the centre will continue to provide interim services until the end of next year.
They add it'll give them time to review the commissioning process before looking for a new provider to start in January 2026.
'We are all committed to working in partnership to ensure services remain carer focused'
In a statement on their website this morning, bosses said: "Following positive discussions, we are pleased to announce an agreement has been reached between Swindon Carers Centre (SCC), Swindon Borough Council (SBC) and Bath and North East Somerset Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (BSW ICB) for Swindon Carers Centre to provide interim carer services in Swindon from January to December 2025.
"This will follow on from the end of the current contract ending 31 December 2024.
"This provision will give stability to carer support in Swindon and to Swindon Carers Centre, which would have had to close in December following the end of the current contract; whilst allowing SBC and BSW ICB to review commissioning processes before going through a full and quality procurement for the carer services contract to start in January 2026.
"We acknowledge this has been a difficult and uncertain few days for unpaid carers in Swindon and for Swindon Carers Centre’s staff and volunteers and we are all committed to working in partnership to ensure services remain carer focused and of high quality."
On Tuesday evening, the leader of Swindon Borough Council, Jim Robbins, confirmed he's met with the bosses at the charity.
Following the original announcement of their closure Swindon Borough Council and the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board said on Tuesday: “It’s standard practice to run a competitive procurement process to commission services and we started this for our carer services contract earlier this year. We terminated that process on 6 August following a review and notified Swindon Carers Centre and other providers that we wanted to work with them to strengthen and reissue the tender in response to provider feedback.
“In the interim, we offered a short-term contract to the Carers Centre with the same annual value as their existing one, with reduced responsibilities. We were disappointed to be notified that the Carers Centre has decided not to accept this offer and didn’t enter into a conversation to propose an alternative.
“Our priority is ensuring continuity of support for carers across Swindon who play such a vital and valued role. We will work closely with the Carers Centre until December to ensure this.”
Read more: Swindon Carers CEO: 'It's been a challenging few days' amid closure news