Contact: Sandra McDine, 01962 847216, [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report seeks authority to undertake a tendering exercise to formulate framework contracts for the provision of domiciliary care services for the Children's Services Department.

2 Recommendations

That the Executive Member for Children & Families

a) Approves the request to invite tenders with a view to forming framework contracts for the provision of domiciliary care for the Children's Services Department.

b) Approves the request to form framework contracts for the provision of domiciliary care services for the Children's Services Department.

3 Background Information

3.1 This request for approval to undertake a tendering exercise to formulate framework contracts for domiciliary care services flows from the review commissioned by the Children's Services Department, which was undertaken by Corporate Procurement during 2007. The Department had identified this area of care services as a priority, having previously completed procurement exercises for both residential care and independent fostering services.

3.2 Domiciliary care is currently purchased by area offices across the whole county, and is predominantly but not exclusively used by the disabled children's teams.

3.3 The current value of services purchased are in the region of £1m per annum, but this figure varies according to the needs of individual young people. There are currently 166 young people receiving care services. Service provision varies between 1 hour and 46.5 hours per week, with an average of 3.23 hours of care per child/young person per week.

3.4 In addition to the above, Direct Payments are currently being used by 127 children/young people to purchase domiciliary care services. This represents 43% of the total number of children/young people receiving domiciliary care services. Should the number of direct payment recipients continue to increase, it is likely that this will mean a corresponding decrease in the number of children / young people who receive domiciliary care services purchased directly by the Department, which is significant in terms of future purchasing arrangements. Further information in relation to this issue is included in paragraph 4.1 below.

3.5 The range of domiciliary care services being purchased includes personal care, sitting services, social and emotional support, and task specific services to enable young people to access recreational and leisure facilities, or to develop new skills.

3.6 The price paid for domiciliary care services currently varies between providers, locations, and the range of services detailed above. The current price per hour ranges from £8.00 to £20.00 per hour. Whilst this represents a considerable range of prices, an average of the lowest price per hour is £12.20 and the highest price per hour is £16.09, which shows the more normal range within which services are purchased.

3.7 Whilst there are currently a small number of block contracts with local disabled children's charities, the remainder of services are purchased under spot purchasing arrangements, and it is for this reason that more formalised contracting arrangements are required. Providers must be selected from a centrally collated list of domiciliary care providers to ensure that they are registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection, and are able to provide care services to children and families.

3.8 Corporate Procurement have also been working with Adults Services, and are undertaking pilot projects to improve their purchasing arrangements. The Children's Services Department will therefore continue to work jointly with Corporate Procurement and Adults Services where appropriate to ensure benefits are maximised in terms of service developments and joint working where appropriate.

4 Proposed Contract

4.1 Having reviewed the options available, it is proposed that a framework contract is established, with volume discounts introduced to ensure the Council benefits from cost savings resulting through volume of business with providers. The framework contract will consist of several providers, from whom there will be no guarantee from the County Council to purchase any level of domiciliary care. The framework will allow prices to be specified in advance and `called off' when required. It is considered that a framework contract with several providers, rather than block contracts will be the most appropriate option at this stage, due to the relatively low numbers of children and young people requiring the service across the County, and the fluctuating demand as individuals commence or cease services. It would therefore be difficult to accurately predict the level of block contract required, which may lead to voids, and these could be significant if the particular child or young person ceasing services was a particularly high user. This position may be further exacerbated by any further increases in the number of children/young people receiving direct payments, as this would have a corresponding decrease in the services being purchased by the Department under this contract. (As detailed in paragraph 3.4 above.)

4.2 The opportunity to tender will enable greater specification of the types and levels of service required to meet the needs of children and young people, with corresponding increase in consistency and equity of services provided by providers across the County. It is also in line with the Council's aims under the Charter for Every Disabled Child Matters, and in line with the philosophies of Aiming Higher for Disabled Children.

4.3 It is anticipated that the tendering exercise should result in an increase in the number of potential providers from whom services may be purchased. This should increase service choice, and therefore provide greater competitiveness between providers in terms of both quality of service and costs.

4.4 Monitoring processes are being developed alongside the contract documentation to ensure that the services meet the specified requirements. This monitoring process will continue to develop, but it is intended that it will include feedback from users of the service, and their parents and carers.

4.5 If authorisation is granted to tender these services, it is hoped that the resulting framework contracts could commence by late summer 2008. It is proposed that the contracts would be for a period of two years, with the option to extend for up to a further two years.

4.6 The proposals in this report are expected to maximise well being for children and young people by ensuring that independent providers from whom they are receiving services are able to appropriately meet their needs. This includes improving services through monitoring processes. The proposals are also expected to make Hampshire safer and more secure for all by working with providers to ensure that their services enable children and young people to become more involved, and develop strong links with their community which is in support of the County Council's corporate priorities.

4.7 It also supports the following outcomes of the Children Act by verifying that providers procedures and practices provide safe care for children and that their services contribute towards the health needs of all young people placed with them. The monitoring process also seeks to ensure that the children and young people have access to a range of activities and pursuits which encourages them to become a part of their local community, and enables them to plan for their futures. The monitoring process will also include feedback from young people and their parents/carers to provide as wide a range of evidence as possible to verify these aims are being met.

5 Consultation

5.1 Consultation will be undertaken with stakeholders and provider organisations to ensure that they are aware of the proposed tender and resulting contract, but it has not been possible to undertake this work prior to this authorisation being sought. The consultation will be undertaken as part of wider consultation in relation to the Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families agenda, the results of which will be used to inform future commissioning strategy.

6 Legal implications

6.1 The tendering exercise would ensure that the Children's Services Department is fully meeting its' obligations under the County Council's Standing Orders on Contracts.

7 Financial implications

7.1 It is anticipated that there will be cost savings as a result of this tender exercise, but it is not possible to indicate at this stage the level of potential savings. These will be provided by a combination of increased competitiveness and volume discount arrangements.

7.2 The planned tender and resulting contract will also enable greater understanding and transparency of providers costs and charges, which will enable more appropriate decisions to be made when selecting providers to meet individual children and young people's needs.

8 Personnel implications

8.1 None.

9 Impact assessment

9.1 The tendering process and resulting contract will support equity of access to services through ensuring that service providers are aware of and meet their obligations specified in the contract.

10 Crime prevention issues

10.1 The County Council has a legal obligation under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to consider the impact of all the decisions it makes on the prevention of crime. In this circumstance there will be no impact by this decision.

11 Views of the Local County Councillor

11.1 The tendering exercise and resulting contract will cover the whole of the County Council area, and for this reason it has not been possible or appropriate to consult with individual County Councillors.

12 Conclusion

12.1 The proposed framework contracts would aim to create equity of service provision across the county, with greater transparency of both costs and services provided. It is also hoped that this will result in increased competitiveness and stimulate the market in some areas to allow greater commissioning choice. It is also hoped that cost savings will be achieved through smarter purchasing including volume discount arrangements.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None