Agenda and minutes

None.

None.

To confirm the minutes of the last meeting held on 12 January 2021

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2021 were confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport

Councillor Adele Williams introduced the report presenting proposals for fee rates in 2021/22 across adult social care contracted provision. Nottingham City Council is contractually bound to consider fee rates on an annual basis where it has a statutory duty to provide a service. The Council will consult with providers on these proposals and consider responses prior to implementation from April 2021.

Resolved to

(1)  approve proposals for fee rates for Adult Social Care Services in 2021/22 as outlined in the pricing details at exempt appendix 1, which will be consulted upon with service providers;

(2)  delegate authority to the Head of Contracting and Procurement to agree fee rates in accordance with the proposals detailed in the exempt appendix 1 pricing detail. This is subject to the outcome of consultation with providers and in line with the Council budget. Subject to consultation and recommendation 4, the agreed rated will be implemented from April 2021;

(3)  approve the total spend associated with this decision of £3.757m. Approval to spend against the high cost placement provision will be through the Council’s scheme of delegation for adults care packages;

(4)  note that if upon completion of the consultation the financial impact of any revised proposals exceed the budget available, further approval will be required.

Reasons for recommendations:

·  Nottingham City Council (the Council) is contractually bound to consider fee rates in respect of services that it has a duty to provide. This is balanced against budget commitments and pressures for the Council.

·  In accordance with the Council’s legal obligation, it is proposed to consult with adult social care providers with regard to these proposals during February-March 2021. The Head of Contracting and Procurement will take account of consultation responses and issue variations to existing contracts reflective of the proposals in this report should no significant issue arise. Should the outcome of these consultations require consideration of significant change to the shape and financial consequence of these proposals (with due regard given to the available budget) a further report will be presented through the appropriate governance process.

·  These proposals and the associated financial modelling are based on information currently available about service utilisation and demand changes as a result of Covid-19. Recommendations in future years will be based on the relevant circumstances at the time and the financial considerations arising.

Other options considered:

·  Do nothing – the Council is contractually bound to review contract fee rates on an annual basis. Doing nothing would present a risk of legal challenge and for this reason, this option was rejected.

·  Offer different fee rate proposals. This option is not recommended as the proposal have resulted from significant work and modelling between finance and contracting, taking into account knowledge of the market and feedback from providers, and the overall budget pressures for Adult Social Care. The final proposals have taken account of the potential impact on service delivery and risk of market failure. Offering different fee rate proposals would place further pressure on the Adult Social Care budget and this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

To consider excluding the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining item(s) in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. 

The Committee decided to exclude the public from the meeting during consideration of the remaining agenda item in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the basis that, having regard to all the circumstances, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

Resolved to note the information contained in the exempt appendix.