Agenda item

A report is attached from the Director of Procurement and Commissioning outlining the council’s intentions in relation to the transformation of day opportunities. The report will be considered formally by Cabinet at its 29 March meeting and the committee is invited to input in advance of this Executive decision.

Cllr Jane Davies, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, SEND, Transition and Inclusion, introduced the report, which she noted would be presented to Cabinet for approval on 29 March. She explained that the proposals set out a new approach to transform how adults, with varying needs, accessed daytime and evening activities. A wider range of activities would be offered than under the existing procurement system and would be better aligned to the aspirations of service users. She reported that the council expected to spend £1.9 million on commissioned day services in the forthcoming year. The new contracts were expected to last for up to eight years and were predicted to have an average annual cost of around £2.1 million over that period. The cabinet member stated that the proposals would modernise the service offer and set out an overarching commissioning strategy to achieve this.

It was noted that around 800 adults benefitted from the day opportunities supported by the council. However, the proposed changes would impact the services currently delivered to 277 customers whose services were procured via spot-contracts. The remainder had services purchased via block contracts with Alzheimer’s Support or Order of St John, which would not be affected by the proposals.

A Commissioning Manager in Transformation, Procurement and Commissioning, explained that under existing arrangements spot contracts were in place with around 40 providers. Under the proposed open framework an approved list of suppliers would be drawn up, which could be added to over time. The new system would have a greater focus on outcomes, improve transparency, and ensure that provision was more geographically even. He reported that a meeting had been held with day centre providers and a further meeting was due to be held the following week. Information about the application process of how to join the list of open framework providers had been given out and it was hoped to award the first contracts in July.

During the discussion the following points were made:

• Members thanked the cabinet member and commissioning manager for the report.

• Members asked if there were people with eligible needs whose demands were not being met. The commissioning manager explained that some of the people attending luncheon clubs may have eligible needs and would receive services if they had undergone a care act assessment. It was hoped that the implementation of the new system would help people to come forward for assessment.

• In response to a question about what would happen if an individual wanted to participate in activity that was not provided for under the framework, the commissioning manager explained that they would use a direct payment system so that a person could choose the services that they wished to participate in. He noted that the framework would offer a wider choice of services, giving control to customers. 

• To follow up on the commissioning manger’s point, the cabinet member explained that the majority of people accessing day centres were self-funders and that grants had previously subsidised costs across the board. She felt that the new system would be fairer as, when assessing organisations looking to join the framework, they could ensure that individuals that were not in a financial position to self-fund could access services. She then confirmed that there was no intention to control the services offered by organisations that people were wishing to pay for out of their own funds.

• Members referenced the three options outlined in the report and noted that the first, maintaining the status quo, was not desirable. They then asked why the policy of adopting an open framework was preferred to bundling existing contracts into a single contract with different lots. 

• The Director of Procurement and Commissioning stated that the benefit of an open framework was that it was a dynamic system allowing centres to diversify their provision and was open for new providers to join at any time.

• Cllr David Vigar, highlighted that only 35 of the 277 customers using services procured via spot contracts were over the age of 65. He noted that luncheon clubs currently in receipt of grants were primarily attended by older people, the majority of whom had not received care act assessments and financially contributed towards the services provided. Given that people over the age of 65 were often at greater risk of social isolation he queried why the £117,906 annual grant to luncheon clubs was being withdrawn.

• The cabinet member explained that funding had been transferred to the area of greatest need. She stated that current provision for luncheon clubs was inequitable and spoke about the need to work with clubs to identify masked need and to encourage a better understanding of care act assessments. She stressed that it was a demand led service and that those eligible were entitled to financial support.

• Officers stressed the importance of ensuing the right intervention for people at the right time and explained that a care act assessment might not be appropriate for every individual. They identified other measures taken by the council to help tackle social isolation, such as the work done by the Prevention and Wellbeing Team. They then asked members to get in touch if they had concerns about individuals in their divisions so that they could ensure that appropriate support was put in place. 

• As the majority of the 800 customers benefitting from day opportunities received services commissioned as part of block contracts, members were told that there were ongoing discussions about potentially moving some of those customers on to the open framework.

Sue Denmark left the meeting at 12:50pm.

Resolved

1. To thank the cabinet member and officers for the report.

2. That a future update is brought back to committee later in 2022 detailing the progress made following the launch of the open framework, outlining the take up from the luncheon and friendship clubs and also from the wider market.