Issue - decisions

To enter into a joint contract with Gloucester City Council for Gloucestershire Action for Refugees and Asylum Seekers (GARAS) to provide Asylum Seeker Support Services across both Cheltenham and Gloucester.

This contract with GARAS will be for an estimated initial period of 2 years and 4 months, with an anticipated start date from 1st December 2025 up to 31st March 2028, with options to extend the contract annually thereafter, up to 31st March 2031.

This decision means that our decision of 23rd September 2025 to enter into contract with Afghanistan & Central Asian Association (A&CAA) for the provision of this service has now been withdrawn. This is on the basis that A&CAA failed to have sufficient accreditation to meet the requirements of the contract. A second supplier also failed to meet these accreditation requirements, with the result that GARAS was the only supplier with the appropriate level of accreditation at the time of the award of contract.