Agenda item

Report of the head of Early Intervention and Market Development

Holly Macer, Lead Contract Officer – Placement Service, presented the report of the Corporate Director of Children and Adults, and the Strategic Director of Early Intervention, which was a follow-up to a report presented to the Executive Board Commissioning Sub-Committee on 16 July 2014. The report seeks to set an agreed maximum contract length of 10 years, initially for 5 years, with an option to extend for another 3, then another 2. The County Council have proposed a contract length of 10 years, initially for 7 years, with an option to extend for another 2, then another 1. The Sub-Committee requested that the delegated authority in recommendation 2 be subject to consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services.

RESOLVED to:

(1)  agree a contract length of up to 10 years for the block contract of 20 local children’s residential care placements, up to the values in exempt appendix 2;

(2)  delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Early Intervention, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, to agree the terms of the contract length, up to a maximum of 10 years and up to the values in exempt appendix 2.

Reasons for Decision

(1)  The block contract for children’s residential care placements will address current market challenges by ensuring increased local capacity and greater choice for Nottingham City’s children and young people. It will also enable the Local Authority to significantly reduce the current spend on residential care placements.

(2)  A contract length of up to ten years is recommended to achieve best value for money for Nottingham City Council. Appropriate and timely termination clauses will be included within the contract. Offering this level of financial stability through a minimum occupancy guarantee will enable providers to plan longer term, and to invest in the infrastructure and resources required to ensure successful and consistent services are delivered to children and young people at a reduced cost to the Local Authority.

(3)  To allow for any increase in demand, the contract will include the opportunity for providers to deliver services above the minimum occupancy guarantee at a discounted rate. This will provide flexibility to meet any changing demand, and enable best value for money to be achieved.

(4)  Analysis confirms that a proportion of Looked After Children will always require residential care placements. In addition to Nottingham City Council’s own internal residential estate, since 2010 Nottingham City Council has consistently commissioned an average of 55 external residential care placements at any one time. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the need for 20 residential placements will be present throughout the duration of up to a ten year contract.

(5)  The procurement process to commission the block contract will ensure compliance with the Council’s Financial Regulations and Contract Procedure Rules. It will support the modernisation agenda and will meet the Council’s aims to ensure value for money, quality and variety of services.

Other Options Considered

A shorter contract length may disadvantage Nottingham City Council through losing the opportunity to achieve best value for money. For this reason, this option was rejected.