Archived decisions

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Decision Report


Decision Maker:			Executive Member for Adult Social Care
Date of Decision:			11 December 2009
Decision Title:			Review of Commissioning Arrangements for Supported Employment for People with a Learning Disability
Decision Reference:			994
Report From:			Director of Adult Services
Contact name:		Nigel Harvey-Whitten
Tel:	01962 847557			Email:	[email protected]

1. Executive Summary

1.1. The report describes the strategic review of supported employment services that will deliver a countywide co-ordinated service through dedicated resources that will enable support and job coaching for those people seeking supported employment. The proposals within this paper align with the recommendations of the Hampshire Personalisation Commission and the Hampshire Model that emerged from it, as well as Hampshire's strategy for learning disability entitled `Ordinary People Leading Ordinary Lives' which will be published in December 2009.

1.2. A strategic review has been carried out that has identified several opportunities for improvements in the way that the current model of supported employment is organised and delivered. Robust contract monitoring has indicated that the current model of service delivery will not meet future requirements as it is now out of date with the aspirations of `Valuing Employment Now' and the requirement to meet the new National Indicator for `Supported Employment'.

1.3. The introduction of the Mencap Workright Scheme in July 2009 within the County Council (which aims to promote both work placements and jobs for service users) will be fully embedded by the time new tender arrangements are in place. This programme will significantly enhance supported employment provision.

1.4. The Strategic review has identified that there are several issues with the way the current model of supported employment is organised. The key issues are:-

· Offering Direct Support Hours to service users flexibly - Robust monitoring through a Workbook monitoring tool since April 2009 has shown that existing contract holders are only able to offer Direct Support Hours for a single employee. In future we want contractors to be able to support several users at any one time.

· Inconsistency of approach - Contractors have interpreted their contract requirements in quite different ways. This has led to a different experience in each location.

· Receiving referrals for service users who are some distance from the labour market - Contractors identified an issue with the work readiness of some of the referrals and this affects their ability to refer them into work.

· Having access to a good range and number of job/work experience opportunities

1.5. The term of the new contract will be for two years with an option to extend for a further two years, one year at a time (2+1+1).

1.6. Executive Member approval is required due to the value of the contract (this is detailed in the Confidential Appendix C).

2. Contextual information

2.1. The supported employment contracts exist to provide support to enable adults with a learning disability to access employment opportunities.

2.2 There are five contracts across the County for Supported Employment. These are:-

· Alabare - which serves the Winchester/Andover Area

· You Organisation - which serves the Havant Area

· Signposts - which serves the Eastleigh/New Forest Area

· Turning Point - which serves the Alton/Aldershot Area

· Turning Point - which serves the Basingstoke Area

Different arrangements exist in parts of the county not covered by the above contracts. Within the new contract, however, there will be countywide coverage. The current contracts end on 30 September 2010. New contracts need to be in place to commence 1 October 2010.

2.3. The arrangement with Signposts is unusual in that it is an in-house project, operating out of The Hexagon Centre, a day service for adults with a physical disability based in Eastleigh, which was enabled and permitted to enter tender consideration. It is not a contract in the true sense as finance for it is vired from local Area budgets. All current contractors have been kept informed of the developments of the strategic review. We have met with Signposts separately to ready them for the new arrangements from October 2010 and continue to engage with service users to plan for the new arrangements.

2.4 The Countywide strategic review of supported employment services has been driven by the following factors:-

· The number of people with a learning disability helped into paid and voluntary employment is reported each year as part of the Self Assessment Survey and was previously a Commission for Social Care (CSCI) Inspection area for improvement in 2006/07. In 2007/08 we reported 94 people helped into paid employment and 147 into voluntary work, which was higher than our CSCI comparator average. For this year, the number of adults in employment formed part of the new National Indicator Set, National Indicator 146. We reported 328 people helped into paid or voluntary employment.

· The need to review configuration of current contracts to obtain best value and outcomes for service users.

· The way in which current contracts are configured is not conducive to opening up employment opportunities to people with more complex needs in line with `Valuing People Now' and `Valuing Employment Now'.

· The current economic climate is reducing suitable work placement opportunities hence the development of the Workright programme.

· The need to complement the agenda for the transformation of the Learning Disability Day Services.

· The need to ensure that future services complement the personalisation agenda and Self Directed Support.

· The need to ensure that the future model of employment services will support the Department's overall strategic direction for adults with a learning disability which focuses on social inclusion and access to mainstream opportunities and services.

2.5 The intention is to go out to tender for new contracts which will support people into employment. The review has established the model required and a new specification has been developed. It is proposed that new contracts will be let from 1 October 2010.

2.6 The new model for Supported Employment will be offered across Hampshire and will have three components. In order of priority, it will:

· Offer one-to-one Support/Job Coaching (In line with Valuing Employment Now - June 2009).

· Offer a dedicated resource of five staff, within each of the Local Implementation Groups (LIG) with a senior, to act as Employment Co-ordinator whose primary task will be to broker job opportunities for users; work with mainstream agencies e.g. Job Centre Plus; and manage referrals for employment.

· The third component of the new model will be to provide work preparation, training and development. This element will not form part of the tender but will be provided by our current In House Learning Disability Day Services.

2.7 The rationale for how the resource will be allocated for each element across the LIGs will be based upon the number of service users who meet eligibility from the recent Strategic Needs Analysis undertaken by the Commissioning Team on a LIG level basis.

2.8 The proposals in this report were presented to the Hampshire Learning Disability Partnership Board at the September 2009 meeting, for its consideration. At that meeting the proposed model of delivery for the new supported employment provision from October 2010 was described. It is important to note that both the Partnership Board and local network groups viewed the proposals positively.

2.9 Visits to the five Learning Disability Local Implementation Groups have also taken place, to outline the proposals and to feedback. Again this exercise has confirmed support for the new model. We are also working closely with a variety of stakeholders from the Transport sector as service users wishing to make use of their local public transport can be prevented from doing so by, for example, the lack of Companion Passes and their use being restricted to times that are unhelpful for service users wanting to get to work. Transport is a key issue for any arrangements that may be proposed for supported employment and every effort will be made to ensure that these parallel pieces of work are joined up.

3. Service User Involvement

3.1. Consultation has taken place with all key stakeholders as part of the process of strategic review. This has included Carers and Service Users through discussion at the Locality Implementation Groups (LIGs). It has also included a meeting with the current Supported Employment Providers held on 20 March 2009. There has been positive engagement with service users, affected by the change, from the Hexagon Day Service.

3.2. Service users will be directly engaged in the development and design of the service specifications and throughout the evaluation process.

3.3. Individuals and families will also be involved in evaluating bids and determining which provider will deliver the support.

4. Legal

4.1 The proposals are compliant with the County Councils Standing Orders and European Union Directives.

5. Financial Considerations

The cost of this tender can be met within the current budget. The aim is to generate efficiencies in the contract to enable the funding of additional training to support the work preparation element of the service, and to make a contribution to the continuation of the Mencap Workright programme.

6. Risk Assessment

6.1 . Risk: Not finding a suitable provider.
Resolution: Given our market intelligence this is extremely unlikely.

6.2. Risk: High quality providers will not tender for the service.
Resolution: By offering contracting opportunities over a four year period we are providing security for prospective providers and an opportunity to re-shape the business to meet this person centred approach. A nationwide advert will be placed and we hope to stimulate interest among new providers who could also enhance the local Learning Disability market.

6.3. Risk: Providers will not meet the expectations of the service users.
Resolution: The interview process will seek to identify providers who have the structure, experience and desire to deliver services to this highly personalised model. Hampshire County Council will manage risk through adult protection, monitoring and safeguarding procedures.

7. Personnel Implications

7.1 TUPE will apply to all existing contracts and it is expected that all staff working on the current contracts will transfer to the new providers.

8. Impact Assessment

8.1. In preparing this report, account has been taken of the requirements of the Corporate Equalities Plan and Race Scheme. The specification will outline the key principles, in that no-one will be treated less favourably on the grounds of gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs or disability. Tenders will be evaluated against this set of criteria.

8.2. The drafting of the new specification will also ensure that the needs and aspirations of service users are fully met in line with the Personalisation agenda.

9. Performance Implications

9.1. The requirement to tender for new supported employment arrangements is due to a change in an overall strategic approach and the need for a new delivery model.

9.2. For this year, the number of adults in employment formed part of the new National Indicator Set, National Indicator 146. We reported 328 people helped into paid or voluntary employment. Contracts from October 2010 will have explicit targets for this national indicator.

10. Future Direction

10.1. The rationale for how the resource will be allocated for each element across the LIGs will be based upon the number of service users who meet eligibility from the recent Strategic Needs Analysis undertaken by the Commissioning Team on a LIG level basis.

11. Conclusions

11.1. The new model for supported employment will provide personalised support that enables adults with a learning disability to become employed and to have the same opportunities as other adults.

11.2. The new model for supported employment will enable the Department to meet part of the new National Indicator Set, NI 146.

12. Recommendation

12.1. That the Executive Member gives approval for a full tendering process to provide a supported employment service for people with a learning disability. The term of this contract will be for two years with an option to extend for a further two years but with the flexibility to do this one year at a time (i.e 2+1+1).

CORPORATE OR LEGAL INFORMATION:

Links to the Corporate Strategy


Hampshire safer and more secure for all:	Yes
Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):
Maximising well-being:	Yes
Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):Yes
Enhancing our quality of place:	Yes
Corporate Business plan link number (if appropriate):Yes


Links to previous Member decisions:
Title;	Reference	Date


Direct links to specific legislation or Government Directives
Title		Date
Valuing employment now - real jobs for people with learning disabilities Author: Department of Health Published		June 24^th 2009


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 published works and any documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.)

Document	Location
None

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