Purpose

Cabinet is recommended to agree
LBWF access the London Borough of Newham’s Dynamic Purchasing
System for a 4 year period for the provision of Children’s
Residential and Independent Foster Care Agency
services.  This Agreement initially runs
till the 8th March 2026 with
the option to extend for a further 4 years.
 

Content

Cabinet:

(1)           
granted approval to contract with the London Borough of
Newham’s Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) which will provide a
pool of pre-approved providers for Children’s Residential
Care Homes and Independent Fostering Agencies for an initial two
year and one month period (2 years and 1 month) with effect from
1st February 2024 – 8th March 2026 with
the option to extend by four (4) further years until 8th
March 2030; and

(2)           
delegated authority to contract with the London
Borough of Newham’s Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) and
contractual arrangements to the Corporate Director Children’s
Social Care.

 
OPTIONS & ALTERNATIVES
CONSIDERED

Option 1 -
Do Nothing
 
Advantages
 

LBWF will continue to spot purchase placements retaining full
autonomy on packages of care it commissions.

 

There will be no additional cost from membership of a DPS aside
from annual provider uplift requests which will need to be
considered on a case-by-case basis.

 
Disadvantages
 

This will not be beneficial to the Council in terms
of efficiencies/pricing as it will be an
officer intensive activity, increasing chances of inconsistency in
results from placement to placement.

It will limit the supply and range of quality
providers at the Council’s disposal.

This option is not compliant with public contract
regulations. 

 
This
option is not recommended.
 

Option 2 - Join an existing Framework
/ Consortium
         
A)           
Join West London Commissioning
Alliance framework.
 
The Commissioning Alliance provide a DPS for the
delivery of Children’s Residential Care, Independent
Fostering Agencies, SEND Services and 16+ Semi Independent
Accommodation Services. Joining the framework would require a
three-year contractual commitment.
 
LBWF would only need to purchase elements relating to
Residential and Independent Fostering Agency Services. Cost is as
follows:
 

Service

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Total

CarePlace unlimited + Tech support Package +
reporting
 
IFA &
Children’s Residential DPV wrapround Commissioning &
Contract Management & Automated KPI’s and QA
Portal

£69,000 (including one-off implementation
costs)

£61,500

£61,500

£192,000

 
Advantages
 

·      
The Commissioning Alliance model achieves positive
results with good technological functionality for the making and
monitoring of placements.

This would also be a relatively quick solution to
implement.

 
Disadvantages

Buying into the Commissioning Alliance model is
significantly more expensive than either the LCS or the Newham DPS
options.

Commissioning Alliances’ fees include some
contract monitoring but at a strategic level and which is not
responsive to emergency or individual level needs. 

The Commissioning Alliance Terms and Conditions also
require participating Local Authorities join for a minimum of three
years. 

 
This option
is not recommended.

 
 
B)           
Join London Borough of Newham’s
DPS
 
This framework is currently for the provision of
Children’s Residential Care, Independent Fostering Agencies,
and 16+ Semi Independent Provisions. 
LBWF in June 2022 put in place a Framework for 16+ Semi Independent
Accommodation and Support Services to run for a period of 2 years
with an option to extend for a further 2 years and hence has not
been considered for inclusion in the Newham DPS proposal at this
stage.
 
If LBWF were to join Newham’s DPS, this will be
for the Children’s Residential Care Homes LOT 2 and
Independent Fostering Agencies LOT 4 services.  The current DPS will run until 8th
March 2026 with the option to extend for a further 4
years.  Joining the Newham DPS will
incur a fee and contribution towards quality assurance visits to
providers.This will cost £3,150 per lot
(Lots 2 and 4 for Children’s Residential Care Homes and
Independent Fostering Agencies) totalling £6,300 per
annum.
 
Terms & Conditions -
Termination Clause states that, either
Party may terminate the DPS Access Agreement upon giving at least
six months’ notice to the other Party”. 
 
 
Advantages

Joining Newham’s DPS will be a relatively
quick solution to mobilise.

The commissioning team will be able to consider
alternative children’s placement models within the
contractual timeframe of the Newham DPS whilst retaining
flexibility to leave the Newham DPS with a minimal notice period of
6 months.

Annual fees are significantly lower than the
Commissioning Alliance model.

LBWF will have access to a wider pool of
children’s placement providers.

 
Disadvantages
 

LBWF will be bound by terms and conditions as presented in the
DPS Access Agreement with either party able to terminate the
Agreement by giving up to 6 months’ notice to the other
party.  All call-off contracts already
in place can however carry on beyond the expiry date or termination
of the DPS.

 
 
Newham’s experience of the DPS to date
 

a)   
Financial and quality
 

Pre-agreed provider rates are set for the full financial year
allowing better budgetary control.
The
use of pre-approved suppliers that meet council standards has
resulted in improved outcomes for children and young
people.
The
opportunity to work with pre-approved suppliers has allowed greater
influence over the market through the use of a
framework.
The
tender process has been successful in attracting a wider supply
base. 30% of suppliers are new and were not part of the previous
LCS framework.
Having access to pre-agreed rates provides up to date
benchmarking that has been helpful in fee negotiations.

 

b)   
Children’s Residential Care
Homes:
 

86
per cent of Children’s Residential Care Homes on the DPS are
currently rated by Ofsted as good or outstanding with 10 per cent
of children in children’s homes placed with DPS providers
– an improvement on the rate previously placed under the LCS
arrangements.
The
DPS has been successful in placing children with significant care
needs with suitable providers. The increased range of providers has
helped in this regard.
There has been an increase in the number of providers able to
provide emergency placements for children at risk of
exploitation.
Overall, Newham receives timely responses from providers and
good offers of homes.  Where there are issues with timeliness
and responses these are addressed with individual
providers.
One
children’s home was suspended in the last year due to serious
shortfalls and safeguarding concerns, but they worked with Newham
Council’s contracts team to raise standards and made good use
of Newham’s provider training offer. The suspension has now
been lifted and they are now performing well.

 

c)   
Independent Fostering Agencies:
 

88
per cent of the Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs) are rated by
Ofsted as good or outstanding with 30 per cent of these suppliers
being new to the DPS with the tender therefore attracting a wider
supply base. 

There is a good utilisation rate with 45 per cent of new
placements being made to DPS suppliers. 
No
Independent Fostering Agency has been suspended but there have been
three provider concern investigations to address issues ranging
from data breaches to poor service delivery. The agencies have
worked constructively with Newham in addressing any
concerns.

 
This is the recommended optionallowing
the council to fulfil its Corporate Parenting duties promoting good
quality at reasonable value.
 
Option 3 -
Develop a LBWF Framework or DPS for Children’s Residential
Care Homes and Independent Foster Care Agencies
 
Advantages
 

Having a Framework or DPS in place for both Children’s
Residential Care Homes and Independent Fostering Agencies will
ensure compliance with contract procurement rules, alleviate the
need to spot purchase and ensure access to a wider range of good
quality providers.

 

A
DPS would offer flexibility, as new suppliers could join at any
time, improving supply and could also be offered to other Local
Authorities as a means to generate revenue.

 
Disadvantages
 

The
Children’s Residential Care Homes and Independent Fostering
Agency Markets are relatively small, limiting the negotiating power
of a single local authority with this market.

 

Conducting a full procurement exercise and
contract management duties as a single Local Authority will have
additional resource implications within procurement, commissioning,
contract management and quality assurance functions.
The cost of a dedicated LBWF Quality Assurance post
(Monitoring Officer) at PO1 grade will be £33,909 at spinal
point 27 going up to £38,607 spinal point 30 per annum
(exclusive of on costs).

 

A
‘static’ framework would not allow new suppliers to
enter the framework throughout its lifetime something that is not
applicable under the Newham DPS which is a dynamic model allowing
new entrants.

 
This option is not
recommended.
The
services delivered via the Newham DPS will be regularly reviewed to
ensure it is delivering the required service. If this should not be
the case, then consideration will be made to explore other options
including the creation of a LBWF DPS.
 
Option 4 -
Carry out a collaborative procurement exercise with a    neighbouring local authority in East
London.
 
Advantages
 

This could lead to a joint framework / approved list / DPS with
shared prices, providers, and contract management across the East
London footprint offering greater supply and quality.

 

Resources could be shared in its implementation hence reducing
the cost for each local authority. Revenue could also be generated
if other Local Authorities wished to join in future.

 
Disadvantages
 

Local Authorities would need to be identified to work on a
collaborative procurement exercise. 

 

Having several Local Authorities involved could delay the
procurement process due to multiple governance arrangements, as
well as compliance with multiple ICT systems (which may in turn
require development of a new compatible ICT solution).

 

Investment cost and time taken to procure a common
ICT solution or joining a new IT system.

 
This option is not
recommended.
LBWF
will explore the option of creating its own DPS during the initial
contractual period with Newham’s DPS.