Agenda item

RESOLVED

To approve the award of the Provision of Support Services for Disabled Children Service contract to the 33 Suppliers listed in Exempt Appendix 1. The Framework Agreement will run for a period of three (3) years, with an option to extend for a period, or periods of a maximum of a further twelve months, with an estimated total value of £6,198,400.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The existing Framework Agreement for Integrated Homecare for Disabled Children and Young People commenced on 1st April and expired on 31st March 2019. A business case to extend the service for a period of 26 months was sought and approved to enable the redesign of the Disabled Children Service (DCS) provision. The Framework Agreement will now expire on 30th June 2022.

The purpose of the Disabled Children's Service redesign is to streamline the provisions offered to children and families. The procurement strategy to commission a new Framework Agreement for the Provision for Leisure Activities, Domiciliary Care & Overnight Services, which will align with the current Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Short Breaks and expire simultaneously.

The support will be for children and young people with a disability under the age of 18.

It was initially agreed for Disabled Children's Service and Adults Services to commission Homecare Services collaboratively to achieve economies of scale, reduce duplication and manage resources effectively. However, having reviewed the DCS provision more critically and assessing the magnitude and complexity of the Adults Service provision in comparison to DCS, it was decided that DCS should commission its provision separately in order to ensure the needs of children are met. Within the model one lot was allocated to the Disabled Children's services and further subdivided into two (2) further lots to capture leisure activities and domiciliary care. There was no scope to include the overnight provision and it was decided that a separate procurement was required to capture this service.

Implementing the DCS procurement strategy allows the unit to focus on specific support for children whilst engaging providers that are more suited to delivering services that meet the ever changing and complex needs of children and young people.

Commissioning services specifically for the Disabled Children's Services would be beneficial for the following reasons:

? Providers would meet the specified criteria that will support children with disabilities.

? Eliminate ambiguity from the providers on the type of support required.

? Allow flexibility with care plans and packages of support

? Increase the number of providers directly available for children's services.

As part of our efforts to streamline DCS, the management of Overnight Short Breaks which was previously held by the Placement Management Unit (PMU) will now be managed by DCS as this service will form part of an ongoing package delivered to children and families.

The requests for overnight support have continued to increase year on year and due to the lack of Short Break overnight providers, children are currently waiting for support to commence.

As stated above, the new service will be complementary to the existing Short Break provision and will only be accessed by the children and young people who have the greatest need and a service will only be allocated following an assessment by a social worker and agreement by the Disabled Children's Resource Panel.

Children with a disability experience challenges in achieving their potential. Therefore, the aim of this new service is to improve the outcomes of these children by giving them access to services to enhance equality of opportunity and increase their involvement and inclusion in society and mainstream services. The provision will enable communities to benefit from the contribution that disabled children and their families can make by harnessing their talent and fostering tolerance, diversity and difference.

The services will give disabled children and young people an opportunity to meet new people and enjoy different experiences whilst also providing families with a break from their caring responsibilities.

The Children and Families Act 2014 and associated statutory guidance places a responsibility on the Authority to commission care and support based on taking full account of:

? The views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parent(s), or the young person.

? The importance of the child and his or her parent(s) or the young person participating as fully as possible in decisions.

? The importance of the child and his or her parent(s) or the young person being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions.

? The need to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.

At present there are 360 children and young people accessing the service through a combination of commissioned services and direct payments.

The support services are currently being provided by 5 organisations within the current framework and 20 organisations on a spot purchase basis for all aspects of the service.

The new Framework Agreement will enable Hackney to increase the number of providers delivering support to children and young people who have been allocated DCS service thereby increasing choice.

7.1  The Short Break Coordinator introduced the report seeking approval to award the provision of support services for the Disabled Children Service contract to 33 suppliers through a Framework Agreement for a period of no more than four years. The contract would expire in order to align with the current Dynamic Purchasing System for Short Breaks, which would enable the streamlining of the short breaks service into one contract. 

7.2  Members welcomed and supported the proposals.  However, it was also noted that it had been disappointing that the proposals for the Disabled Children's Service and Adults Services to commission Homecare Services collaboratively had not been feasible due to the complexity of the Adults Service provision. 

7.3  The Short Break Coordinator emphasised that the Children's Service had a small cohort of approximately 350 children with a vast range of needs. Social workers from both the Disabled Children’s and Adult Services teams worked closely together on transition plans to ensure a smooth transfer.  Some services could potentially be insourced in the future but consideration needed to be given to value for money and long term viability, and other service provisions could be commissioned by a provider or move to direct payments. The current issue with direct payments was the cost element involved in setting it up but the Council had a four year plan to encourage the uptake of direct payments.

7.4  In terms of the key performance indicators (KPIs), the Council would annually review the provider’s individual plan for each child and this would form part of the KPIs. The KPIs targets would be undertaken on a case by case basis and consideration would be given to how the service was improving the young person’s quality of life.

RESOLVED:

To approve the award of the Provision of Support Services for Disabled Children Service contract to the 33 Suppliers listed in Exempt Appendix 1. The Framework Agreement will run for a period of three (3) years, with an option to extend for a period, or periods of a maximum of a further twelve months, with an estimated total value of £6,198,400.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The existing Framework Agreement for Integrated Homecare for Disabled Children and Young People commenced on 1st April and expired on 31st March 2019. A business case to extend the service for a period of 26 months was sought and approved to enable the redesign of the Disabled Children Service (DCS) provision. The Framework Agreement will now expire on 30th June 2022.

The purpose of the Disabled Children's Service redesign is to streamline the provisions offered to children and families. The procurement strategy to commission a new Framework Agreement for the Provision for Leisure Activities, Domiciliary Care & Overnight Services, which will align with the current Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Short Breaks and expire simultaneously.

The support will be for children and young people with a disability under the age of 18.

It was initially agreed for Disabled Children's Service and Adults Services to commission Homecare Services collaboratively to achieve economies of scale, reduce duplication and manage resources effectively. However, having reviewed the DCS provision more critically and assessing the magnitude and complexity of the Adults Service provision in comparison to DCS, it was decided that DCS should commission its provision separately in order to ensure the needs of children are met. Within the model one lot was allocated to the Disabled Children's services and further subdivided into two (2) further lots to capture leisure activities and domiciliary care. There was no scope to include the overnight provision and it was decided that a separate procurement was required to capture this service.

Implementing the DCS procurement strategy allows the unit to focus on specific support for children whilst engaging providers that are more suited to delivering services that meet the ever changing and complex needs of children and young people.

Commissioning services specifically for the Disabled Children's Services would be beneficial for the following reasons:

? Providers would meet the specified criteria that will support children with disabilities.

? Eliminate ambiguity from the providers on the type of support required.

? Allow flexibility with care plans and packages of support

? Increase the number of providers directly available for children's services.

As part of our efforts to streamline DCS, the management of Overnight Short Breaks which was previously held by the Placement Management Unit (PMU) will now be managed by DCS as this service will form part of an ongoing package delivered to children and families.

The requests for overnight support have continued to increase year on year and due to the lack of Short Break overnight providers, children are currently waiting for support to commence.

As stated above, the new service will be complementary to the existing Short Break provision and will only be accessed by the children and young people who have the greatest need and a service will only be allocated following an assessment by a social worker and agreement by the Disabled Children's Resource Panel.

Children with a disability experience challenges in achieving their potential. Therefore, the aim of this new service is to improve the outcomes of these children by giving them access to services to enhance equality of opportunity and increase their involvement and inclusion in society and mainstream services. The provision will enable communities to benefit from the contribution that disabled children and their families can make by harnessing their talent and fostering tolerance, diversity and difference.

The services will give disabled children and young people an opportunity to meet new people and enjoy different experiences whilst also providing families with a break from their caring responsibilities.

The Children and Families Act 2014 and associated statutory guidance places a responsibility on the Authority to commission care and support based on taking full account of:

? The views, wishes and feelings of the child and his or her parent(s), or the young person.

? The importance of the child and his or her parent(s) or the young person participating as fully as possible in decisions.

? The importance of the child and his or her parent(s) or the young person being provided with the information and support necessary to enable participation in those decisions.

? The need to support the child and his or her parent, or the young person, in order to facilitate the development of the child or young person and to help him or her achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.

At present there are 360 children and young people accessing the service through a combination of commissioned services and direct payments.

The support services are currently being provided by 5 organisations within the current framework and 20 organisations on a spot purchase basis for all aspects of the service.

The new Framework Agreement will enable Hackney to increase the number of providers delivering support to children and young people who have been allocated DCS service thereby increasing choice.