Decision

RESOLVED:

To approve the award of contract for the delivery of Day & Evening Services to the successful suppliers listed in Exempt Appendix 1, and any subsequent successful providers who apply to deliver the Day & Evening Services via the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS), for a period of up to 4 years in total (2+1+1) commencing in May 2024 at a maximum cost of £8.44m.

Reason(s) For Decision / Options Appraisal

This report asks CPIC to approve the award of contract for the delivery of Day & Evening Services to suppliers listed in Exempt Appendix (1) and any subsequent providers who successfully bid for the provision of Day & Evening Services via the DPS.

Local Authorities, under the Care Act 2014, have a duty to promote wellbeing. The Act highlights the importance of preventing or delaying the development of needs for care and support and the importance of reducing needs that already exist.

The preferred option, agreed at Business Case stage (Option 1 below) was to Procure a DPS under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR) light touch regime. Providers would be admitted onto the DPS after having been evaluated as adhering to the required legal and quality standards and financial parameters. Providers then sign up to a set of overarching Terms & Conditions which govern the way they will operate, as well as set out a floor and ceiling rate for fees and other standardised fee rates if they have anyone placed with them. Providers would apply to be on the DPS; however, this would not be a guarantee of work. This would then create a “menu” for where Individuals would then be placed with the most appropriate service, using a combination of customer choice, geography, availability, etc – with the most cost effective option that meets need and choice being selected. Each service user is placed with an individual placement agreement (IPA, rather than an overarching or block contract) which stipulates the needs and goals of the individual.

This will complement the current in-house service which is considering becoming a centre of excellence to take on more complex cases in future, currently being provided by external agencies often out of the borough.

Alternative Options (Considered and Rejected)

Option 2: Continue with current spot purchasing arrangements, which has the advantage of retaining the status quo for providers. The drawback of this option would be: it is difficult to assure the quality of spot purchased day opportunities without a specific service specification. It is also difficult to negotiate fair rates for services and it is an inefficient use of social worker/brokerage officer time, searching for appropriate provider services and negotiating prices. Potential providers may see spot purchasing as offering no level of security to operating their business, furthermore, it does not consistently offer a choice for the people wishing to use these services. Without an overarching contract, there is also no standardisation of the service offer. For example, some providers class half a day as 4 hours and some 3 resulting in inconsistency of offer to individuals.

Option 3: Insourcing Fully. To insource fully would be less choice for the residents, and reduce the range of expertise available. While Oswald street does provide a good service, and this proposal supports its development into a centre of excellence it remains vital that there is different expertise and choice open to our residents depending on their need, culture and personal choice and control

Option 4: Complete appropriate procurement processes to award a number of separate contracts based on the scope of the existing provision. This would have the advantage of regularising existing arrangements and establishing a fixed model of provision for the duration of the contracts. However, it would fail to deliver the added benefits of the DPS that are detailed below and it would be extremely time consuming to complete all of the separate contracting arrangements required.

The following options were considered and appraised for the future of provision in the borough

Option 1

(preferred)

DPS - creating a hybrid

in/outsourcing

arrangement

Balances both in-house provision and use of

external Hackney based services wherever

possible. Contract with Quality Standards and

specification. Will mean Provider Services can

develop Oswald Street as a centre of

excellence, whilst offering wider choice and

control of residents and their families/carers

Option  2

Remain as is and

continue with spot

purchasing

arrangements

Poor value for money. No control over costs

and what's included in provider costs. Costs

and fees are not transparent. No service

specification or KPIs to maintain quality or

ensure consistency of service provision.

Option 3

Insource fully

Currently the in-house service delivered at

Oswald Street is at reduced capacity. Work is

underway to address this but even when it is

fully open, the centre would not be big

enough. It would detract from creating a centre

of excellence. Choice would be reduced for

residents; it would reduce the market

substantially.

Option 4

Separate contracts (no

overarching framework

or DPS)

Very time consuming, requiring a number of

separate procurement processes to be

completed. Not seen as good practice or best value.

Option 1 was the preferred option, approved by the Hackney Procurement

Board in November 2023.