Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures (CS/24/23) outlining a Commissioning and Procurement Strategy, attached.

Decision:

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the Commissioning and Procurement Strategy, as set out in the

Report, be agreed;

 

(b) that the principle of an open, competitive process to procure a multi

supplier framework, or equivalent, for individual packages of education

support be endorsed; and

 

(c) that following completion of a full procurement options appraisal, delegated

authority be given to the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures and

Director of Finance and Public Value, in consultation with the Cabinet Member

for Children's SEND Improvement Services, to approve the final route to

market

Minutes:

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

 

The Cabinet considered the Report of the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures (CS/24/23), which sought approval of a Commissioning and Procurement Strategy for Independent Education Provision, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

 

The Cabinet noted that as part of the work programme for the SEND Transformation Programme and the Department for Education (DfE) Safety Valve, a significant workstream was on the future commissioning and procurement for Independent Special Schools (ISS) and Alternative Education Providers (AEP), focussed on increasing capacity in the maintained state sector, but there remained a need to commission from the independent sector.

 

The Council currently purchased places from the independent sector for those with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) via a spot purchase mechanism.  The Council had also been purchasing packages of Alternative Education Provision (AEP), the majority of which was delivered by external providers who were unregistered.  Currently, there were no national quality standards or registration processes for AEP providers, although this was being reviewed by the DfE.  

 

A Strategy for ISS was to improve the commissioning of ISS placements, including alignment of the commissioning processes for independent school placements with wider education commissioning, wider Council commissioning and procurement practice and post 16 settings, linked with transition and preparing for adulthood.

 

The Strategy for Alternative Education Provision (AEP) was to put in place an appropriate commissioning, approach, and mechanism where the Council was using AEP to support the education of children and young people for a period of time, including children in care, children missing from education, those under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and those with an EHCP, predominately identified as Education Other than at School (EOTAS).

 

The Report outlined the work undertaken to date including phase 1 of the ISS transformation to meet the Safety Valve savings targets for 2024/25 financial year and what that entailed. Phase 1 of the AEP transformation had been launched with the implementation and piloting of a new commissioning process for an interim period (2024/25).  The purpose of the interim commissioning process was to manage any risk from current practice. The Report outlined the work undertaken.

 

The work so far for both sectors put greater assurance in place whilst longer term formal frameworks and approaches were developed and implemented.

 

The aim was to have an overall commissioning and procurement mechanism in place for both ISS and AEP by January 2026, at the latest, which would come under the auspices of the Procurement Act 2023 (a new mandatory legal structure coming into force on 28 October 2024), meaning additional notices and documentation and time being required.

 

The next steps (if agreed) would be PIN and Market testing questionnaire, procurement options appraisal, provider engagement and service specifications. The graphs in Appendix A of the Report set out the current timeline.

 

It was expected that through better financial management and placement value, savings could be achieved without reducing a level of service. 

 

An Impact Assessment would be completed linked to the development of the Service Specification and engagement set out in Appendix A.

 

The proposals ensured the Council was able to fulfil its statutory responsibilities in respect of commissioning appropriate provision for Children and Young People, in particular those identified with special or additional educational/medical needs. The proposals were directly linked to the High Needs Block Management Plan, as submitted, and approved by the DfE as well as the wider SEND Transformation plan.

 

The proposals would establish a better way of working/commissioning that ensured compliance, value for money, performance monitoring and improved outcomes for Children and Young people. Linked with the wider SEND Transformation Programme the Strategy gave the opportunity to lead on establishing an improved way of working.

 

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s Report having been considered:

 

it was MOVED by Councillor Samuel, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

 

RESOLVED

 

(a) that the Commissioning and Procurement Strategy, as set out in the Report, be agreed;

 

(b) that the principle of an open, competitive process to procure a multi supplier framework, or equivalent, for individual packages of education support be endorsed; and

 

(c) that following completion of a full procurement options appraisal, delegated authority be given to the Director of Children & Young People’s Futures and Director of Finance and Public Value, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children's SEND Improvement Services, to approve the final route to market.

Supporting documents: