Issue - meetings

Joint Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity and the Chief Officer for Children’s Services (CS/17/6) on the process for a procurement exercise for new contract/arrangements for commissioning of children's services,attached.

(Councillors Connett, Hannan, Julian and Westlake attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Joint Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity and the Chief Officer for Children’s Services (CS/17/6) outlining the current contractual arrangements for Integrated Children’s Services (currently provided by Virgin Care Limited) and on the proposed process for procuring a new contract/arrangements for commissioning of children's services upon the expiry of the current contract on 31 March 2018.

The Cabinet noted that all of the Commissioning Partners were committed to continuing strong working arrangements both as a commissioning partnership for children, young people and families, and strategically as part of the Devon Children, Young People and Families Alliance. Following discussions at the Pre-Procurement Board, Cabinet was now recommended to undertake a formal consultation on the options relating to the  provision of public health nursing services before determining future arrangements, in line with the options [agreed by the Pre-Procurement Board] , namely:

·                                 negotiation of a 12 month interim contract for the provision of children’s services to allow for a full procurement with a contract start date of 1 April 2019 and which incorporated 0-19 Public Health Nursing Services;

·                                 proceed with the independent procurement of 0-19 Public Health Nursing services; or

·                                 transfer the 0-19 Public Health Nursing Service to Devon County Council from 1 April 2018, under the management of the Director of Public Health (as the statutory Director) until such time as strategic discussions on the configuration of children’s services had been completed and a decision made on future commissioning/provision arrangements.

While it was not anticipated there would be any need for substantive changes in service provision as a result of any of these options the Cabinet was nonetheless recommended to endorse the approach outlined above and set out more fully in Report CS/17/6 in the interests of openness and transparency and to ensure the County Council determined the means of providing those services for which it was responsible.

The Chief Officer for Children’s Services undertook to provide Members with the latest evaluation report of the current provider (Virgin Care Limited) which had recently been submitted to the People’s Scrutiny Committee’s Children’s Standing Overview Group.

The Chief Officers’ Report also referred to an Impact Assessment which would be finalised prior to the proposed consultations referred to above relating to the possible impacts of the proposal, for the attention of Members at the relevant meeting, in order that the Cabinet might then have full regard to the responsibilities placed upon it to exercise its Public Sector Equality Duty, under s149 of the Equality Act 2010: no unmanageable impacts having been identified to date.

The matter having been debated and the options and/or alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. risk management, equality  and legal considerations and Public Health impact) set out in the Chief Officers’ Report and/or referred to above having been considered:

It was MOVED by Councillor Davis, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133