Issue - meetings

(An item taken in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 with the consent of the relevant Scrutiny Committee Chair on the grounds that any delay could adversely impact on service users).

Report of the Head of Commissioning on the Residential Short Breaks for Disabled Children service, attached.

The Impact Assessment should be read in conjunction with the Report.  

(An item taken in accordance with the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012 with the consent of the relevant Scrutiny Committee Chair on the grounds that any delay could severely impact upon service users).

(Councillors Connett and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Children’s Services on proposals to bring ‘in-house’ for direct delivery, from 1st April 2019, the Residential Short Breaks Services for Disabled Children.

Children’s Services in partnership with NEW Devon and South Devon and Torbay Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) were responsible for commissioning a range of short breaks services for disabled children and the SEN Code of Practice (2015) required the Local Authority to publish this offer for families.

Cabinet noted their previous resolution (on 11th October 2017) to undertake an options appraisal for the service to consider the future delivery. The current service was provided under the Integrated Children’s Service’s contract provided by Virgin Care Ltd, which expired on the 31st March 2019. 

Following a tender process in June 2018, despite market warming events showing good levels of interest, the first tender process had received no bids. Following feedback from potential bidders, changes were made to the tender pack, and a second tender process closed on the 1^st November 2018. This tender resulted in one bid being received which was non-compliant and therefore excluded.

The Report outlined the various options (e.g. run another tender process and / or insource the service to the direct management of the Local Authority) and the varying levels of risk associated with each option.

The financial considerations were also highlighted including staffing issues, the original budget position for the contract over the three-year period 2019/20 to 2021/22 of £4.4 millions and the revised estimated budget requirement over the three years which could be as high as £6.7 millions. The Cabinet noted that the proposals were not without financial risk to the Authority. The aborted procurement and subsequent shortened timescales would delay implementation of service reconfiguration and could create potential budget pressures of £2.3 millions.

Cabinet noted that due to constrained timescales support service managers had not yet had opportunity to assess and quantify the corporate impact of bringing the service ‘in-house’ in terms of resource implications for support functions, IT and estates.

In addition, for the Local Authority to directly deliver short breaks services a range of governance steps would need to be taken such as registration with Ofsted and the appointment of oversight to a Responsible Individual.

In progressing this proposal, an Impact Assessment had been prepared which had been circulated to Cabinet Members for their attention at the meeting. This highlighted that bringing the service ‘in-house’ would retain all the potential positive impacts that would have been achieved through successful re-commissioning of the service. Quality monitoring and governance would be in place to promote service delivery which catered for the needs of children  ...  view the full minutes text for item 268