Agenda item

Report of Strategic Director for Early Intervention

Lynne McNiven, Consultant in Public Health, presented the report of the Interim Director of Public Health, requesting an extension of several public health contracts to enable the completion of the strategic review of Adult Healthy Lifestyle services. Ms McNiven highlighted the following points and responded to councillors’ questions:

(a)  significant savings have already been made in respect of these services since Nottingham City Council took over responsibility for their delivery from NHS England;

(b)  the services involved are specifically targeted at citizens at a high risk of developing Cardio-Vascular Disease, and the contract extensions will ensure continuity of service while the strategic review is carried out;

(c)  the strategic review will in due course lead to further significant savings.

RESOLVED to

(1)  give approval to:

(a)  extend those Public Health contracts listed in the exempt Appendix 1 Tables A & B, for for up to 1 year, at a cost not exceeding their current contract values;

(b)  grant dispensation from sections 5.1.1 and  5.1.2 of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules, in accordance with section 3.29 of the Council’s Financial Regulations, in respect of the Public Health contracts indicated in exempt Appendix 1, Table B, noting that the Chief Finance Officer has been consulted on and agrees to this request;

(2)  delegate authority to the Interim Director of Public Health in consultation with the Portfolio Holder of Adults and Health, to agree the final values and award contracts for the services listed in exempt Appendix 1, Tables A and B, providing these do not exceed their current values, noting that a Delegated Decision Making Form would need to be completed to record this decision;

(3)  delegate authority to the Head of Quality and Efficiency to sign the final contracts and contract extensions in respect of all services detailed in exempt Appendix 1 Tables A and B following approval by the Director of Public Health to the agreed contract awards;

(4)  give approval to spend the budget to support the contractual values set out in exempt Appendix 1 Tables A and B . If the contractual values are over and above current indicative values a separate report will be presented for approval.

Reasons for recommendations

(1)  extending the contracts listed in exempt Appendix 1, Table A and B, for one year will ensure that continuity of service provision is maintained and citizens can continue to access these Public Health Services from April 2016; and that the recommendations of commissioning review during 2015/16-2016/17 can be implemented in a timely manner.  It will also enable procurement to be undertaken during 2016/17 to ensure that service and cost improvements can be achieved from April 2017 onwards;

(2)  A commissioning review is required to ensure that health and wellbeing benefits for citizens from these services are maximised and that the services provide the best value for money. There are several service configuration options that need to be considered and appraised including integration with and utilisation of relevant existing council services and there is insufficient time to undertake such a review and procure services before current contracts end in March 2016;

(3)  It is proposed that fixed term arrangements be put in place with existing providers to ensure continuity of service for local citizens.  All Public Health contracts pertaining to this review currently due to expire on 31 March 2016 are listed in exempt Appendix 1, along with proposed commissioning arrangements for 17/18 onwards.  The exempt appendix also contains details of contract values and a rationale for each for the proposed tender arrangements;

(4)  In all cases contract performance will be monitored closely throughout the year to ensure that services are delivered effectively and best value is obtained.