Agenda and minutes

Lisa Lopez

Alisa Barr

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2021, for confirmation

The minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2021 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Report of the Director of Commissioning and Procurement, Nottingham City Council

Anna Coltman, Commissioning Officer, presented the report which, with the current Well-Being at Home contract coming to an end in September 2022, seeks approval to undertake a procurement exercise, re-tendering for the Well-Being Home Service for a five-year contract to the up to the value of £749,999.00.

The following points were highlighted and committee members’ questions responded to:

a)  the work of the service has been assessed and found to provide valuable support in enabling  citizens to remain independent in their own home the following a period in hospital or through the avoidance of deterioration in health and well-being that could lead to hospital admission;

b)  if the service is not recommissioned, there will be an impact on citizens and will stifle the patient discharge flow from hospital and care bases in that patients will require longer stays of inpatient care, along with a potentially earlier than otherwise admission to inpatient care as the health of some independent living citizens deteriorates;

c)  although the current model is effective for citizens, it is difficult to measure to what extent and how effectively other agencies link into it. The composition of the new contract will include a focus on how best to measure this and prevent duplication. The Commissioning Team will work with partners to ensure that outcomes are measurable and achievable;

d)  the current model is run by the Voluntary Sector and is staffed by volunteers, which,  despite health service recruitment issues, does not have a problem recruiting suitable volunteers. It is a brilliant example of how the Voluntary Sector can excel where other services cannot;

e)  City Council Commissioning Team are trialling the new Reducing BAME Inequalities Maturity Matrix’;

Members of the committee commented:

f)  it’s frustrating that whilst the current provider provides a service which all parties are happy with, a recommissioning exercise is required;

g)  to ensure inclusivity of the valuable Voluntary Sector in being able to submit competitive tenders, barriers need to be identified and addressed, such the timings of commissioning windows as there are periods of reduced capacity within the Voluntary Sector, such as during school holidays.

Resolved to

1)  endorse Nottingham City Council as the lead commissioner of the Wellbeing at Home service;

2)  approve undertaking a procurement exercise during 2022 to re-tender for the Wellbeing at Home service. The commissioning intention is that this will be a 5-year contract with a total value of up to a maximum of £749,999.00;

3)  approve the award of a contract to the successful provider following an open and competitive tender process;

4)  delegate authority to the Nottingham City Council Director of Commissioning and Procurement to enter into the contract, and to the Nottingham City Council Head of Contracting and Procurement to sign the contract with the service provider;

5)  approve the spend associated with this decision subject to the joint approval of the 2022/23 Better Care Fund Plan as detailed in section 4 of the report.

Reason for decision:

o  the existing contractual arrangements end on 30 October 2022 and a decision is required to continue the services.

Other options considered:

o  Do nothing: This was rejected as the current contracts are ending with no option for extension and a full procurement exercise must take place;

o  Seek to review service provision and explore alternative models: This was rejected for the Wellbeing at Home service as the contract has been subject to review in the previous term of the contract which resulted in a contract variation to reduce the contract value. Any further changes to deliver efficiencies would risk destabilising the current service model.

o  Extending the contracts for a further year: This was rejected as the contract is ending with no option for extension and a decision is required to put in place a new arrangements. A new contract will allow commissioners to work with a Provider to explore opportunities for achieving better value for money, to review and remodel the service and to explore broader range of support for citizens. Commissioners will also initiate development work with a provider to create an outcomes focussed service model. This development work will form part of the annual reviews.

Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 4pm

Agreed to note that the Committee will next meet on Wednesday 25 May 2022 at 4pm.