Agenda for Commissioning and Procurement Executive Committee on Tuesday, 9th July, 2019, 10.00 am

Agenda and minutes

Venue: LH 0.06 - Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham, NG2 3NG. View directions

Contact: Phil Wye  Email: Phil.Wye@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

12.

Appointment of the Chair for the Meeting

Minutes:

RESOLVED to appoint Councillor Sally Longford as Chair for the current meeting.

13.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Councillor Cheryl Barnard  -  Council business

Councillor Sam Webster  -  personal reasons

14.

Declarations of Interests

Minutes:

None.

15.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 224 KB

Minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 June 2019, for confirmation.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2019 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

16.

Voluntary and Community Sector Update pdf icon PDF 203 KB

Minutes:

Celina Adams, Head of Support Services at Nottingham Community Voluntary

Services (NCVS), presented a report on the current funding issues and opportunities within the Voluntary Sector. The following points were discussed:

 

(a)  due to the varied level of support resulting from the current area-based funding arrangements, NCVS is keen to discuss a more efficient voluntary sector support delivery model with the Council. Discussions are taking place with Councillor Rebecca Langton, as the Portfolio Holder for Communities. In the meantime, NCVS continue to provide advice, support, casework and training to Nottingham’s Voluntary Sector. However, this support is not consistent across the City, currently;

 

(b)  NCVS has started its Enterprising Nottingham training, funded by the Nat West Skills and Opportunities Fund, providing workshop training and one-to-one bespoke support to new and existing social enterprises in Nottingham, which is free at the point of delivery;

 

(c)  Phase 1 of the ‘Hidden Harm’ skills building programme is now complete. The aim of this programme is to equip voluntary organisations with the skills and knowledge required to recognise and respond to indicators of various types of abuse and crimes that often go unreported or unrecognised. Phase 2 has started and low/no cost Safeguarding training is available for small groups who cannot afford to access the existing Safeguarding training offered by NCVS. The Safeguarding training given is comparable to that provided by the Council and a detailed database is in place to monitor the new and existing voluntary organisations that work with children and vulnerable adults. A new strategy is being developed to enable training to be delivered within communities, rather than at a central location. There is an important opportunity to engage with the Council’s Skills and Employment Delivery Team to ensure that information on these Safeguarding training opportunities is raised on the agenda of any other meetings and groups that are likely to be attended by the kinds of voluntary organisation that would benefit from it;

 

(d)  NCVS is part of a working group to explore how the Voluntary Sector will engage with the D2N2 LEP following the UK leaving the European Union. It is vital to influence the future funding made available by the Government and to maintain the dialogue with the LEP regarding the importance of the Sector in economic development. There are Inclusion Representatives on the LEP’s main Board, Sub-Board structures and Advisory Boards.

 

(e)  ‘Futures’ has been announced as the organisation that will deliver the European Social Fund’s Community programme. This will include small grants for voluntary organisations, and NCVS is a partner and sits on the grants panel. Nottingham has had good success in the first round of grants;

 

(f)  there is significant concern in the Voluntary Sector about the impact of Social Prescriptions on Nottingham’s voluntary organisations and groups, particularly in terms of implementation, referral pathways and funding. If Social Prescribing is to be lead effectively by the Voluntary Sector, support must be in place to ensure that organisations have the capacity, infrastructure, resources, training and knowledge  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

17.

Care Homes Commissioning Proposal pdf icon PDF 417 KB

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources and the Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Christine Oliver, Head of Commissioning, presented a report on the review into the provision of residential and nursing care homes, to inform the development of a new specification for the procurement of care homes for Nottingham’s most vulnerable citizens, where no other suitable options are available. The following points were discussed:

 

(a)  the value of the decision is substantial, at £418,500,000 for Nottingham City Council’s contribution, and the cost is in line with the Council’s mid-term Financial Plan. The contract is for up to nine years and can be cancelled earlier, if required. The length of the contract will reduce the procurement pressures on providers and will ensure best value for money in a sector where prices are rising;

 

(b)  a major strategic focus is to help people in care move back into their own homes, or other independent living arrangements, if appropriate.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

(1)  approve the procurement of Residential and Nursing care services via a joint accreditation process with NHS Nottingham City. The contracts awarded will be for a term of up to 5+4 years, depending on the commencement date. The contracts awarded to providers carry no guarantee of business during that time;

 

(2)  delegate authority to the Director of Commissioning and Procurement to approve the outcome of the tenders and award contracts to providers as a result of the process;

 

(3)  delegate authority to the Head of Contracting and Procurement to sign the contracts arising from the tender process once the tender outcome is agreed.

 

Reasons for the decision

 

The contract for Residential and Nursing Homes is due to end in on 31 March 2020. This is in the form of an Accredited List utilising the Light Touch Regime. The current contract was commissioned jointly with the Nottingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), utilising the standard NHS Contract. This enables placements to be jointly, or fully, funded by the CCG. The performance management of the contract is undertaken by the Council on behalf of the CCG for residential homes. The CCG performance manage registered nursing homes.

 

In order to effect a new contract, to continue to provide residential care to Nottingham citizens, the Council will need to undertake a procurement process on behalf of its citizens. The proposed model for procurement is to commission services through an Accredited List. This will require all current care home providers to complete an application process. By completing this process, the care homes are required to meet a minimum set of required standards and to be subject to regular Council oversight. The accreditation process remains open, so any new provider can be directed to apply for accreditation at any time.

 

Through the proposed accreditation process, failure to meet the criteria set out in the procurement process means failure to gain accreditation and the Council will not commission providers that are not accredited. However, providers can re-apply if they remedy the reason for failure, therefore promoting a culture of constant improvement of services.

 

The proposed new contract is a joint contract on behalf  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

Commissioning Intentions 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 219 KB

Report of the Corporate Director for Strategy and Resources and the Director of Commissioning and Procurement

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Christine Oliver, Head of Commissioning, presented a report on Nottingham City Council’s commissioning intentions for 2019/20, both individually and with the Nottingham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). The following points were discussed:

 

(a)  work is being carried out with the CCG and the Health and Wellbeing Board for developing pathways to improve engagement and to commission and deliver services on a more collective basis;

 

(b)  the appendices to the report will be updated to identify Councillor Eunice Campbell-Clark as the lead member as the Portfolio Holder for Health, HR and Equalities, where appropriate.

 

RESOLVED to approve the main areas of activity identified within the Commissioning Plans.

 

Reasons for the decision

 

Agreement of the commissioning priorities for 2019-20 will establish the work programme for the year and enable resources to be allocated effectively.

 

Other options considered

 

None.