Agenda item - Direct Payment Support Service - Key Decision

Agenda item

Direct Payment Support Service - Key Decision

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport

Minutes:

Anna Coltman, Commissioning Manager, introduced the report seeking approval for Nottingham City Council to enter into a joint tender process with Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the County CCG, and to procure from a framework agreement, with Nottinghamshire County Council acting as the lead of the procurement.

 

The Council has a duty to provide Direct Payment Services under the Care Act (2014). Adults who are assessed as requiring social care and children who receive social care support in relation to their Special Educational Needs and/or Disability are entitled to receive support in the form of a direct payment, which is used to buy goods or services which meet the identified needs of the citizen.

 

Providers will be required to provide audits for all accounts they are managing in order to ensure accountability.

 

Resolved to

 

(1)  approve the commissioning of a direct payment support service through a joint tender process with Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City CCG and County CCGs. Nottinghamshire County Council will act as the lead of the procurement process. A framework contract will be awarded for use by all commissioning partners;

(2)  delegate authority to the Director of Adult Social Care to approve call-off contracts under the established framework in order to commission packages of services as needed for individual citizens in receipt of Direct Payments;

(3)  approve the indicative spend associated with this decision, up to a maximum of £2,284,000 over a four-year contract (£0.571m per annum based on 2018/19 actual usage and 2019/20 projected usage levels) for Nottingham City Council, under the framework. Approval to spend on individual packages commissioned will be through the Council’s scheme of delegation for Adults Care Packages.

 

Reasons for decision:

 

·  Direct Payment (DP) Support Services for Nottingham citizens are being provided through a third party support provider who deliver direct payment support to citizens in receipt of direct payments. Citizens can also choose to use alternative providers if they wish to. This arrangement is in place until September 2020.

·  Commissioning authorities currently operate separate arrangements to make DP Support Services available. There are wide variations in the costs and the service offer between providers.

·  Without a formal contract in place, the Council is limited in its ability to offer any contractual oversight and quality assurance over the services that the citizen chooses to use.

·  It is recommended to align longer term commissioning arrangements with Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City CCG and County CCGs, and enter into a joint contract for the commissioning of a new model of DPO Support Services under a four-year framework agreement. Nottinghamshire County Council will act as the lead of the procurement. This will replace the current interim arrangement with a single provider, which is ending in September 2020.

·  It is recommended to delegate authority to the Director of Adult Social Care to award the call-off contracts. The commissioning of individual packages of support will be authorised through the scheme of delegation for Adult Social Care.

·  The indicative spend associated with this decision is £0.571m per annum (based on actual usage in 2018/19 and projected usage levels during 2019/20) for both Adults and Children’s Direct Payments. Spend will be up to a maximum of £2,284,000 over the lifetime of the framework agreement and potential call-off contracts made under it. It is anticipated that expenditure under the new model of DP Support Services will not exceed 2019/20 levels.

·  The recommendations above will enable the Council to offer a new model of DP Support Services for citizens, create a simple, standard service offer and pricing structure, and enable costs to be managed more effectively. Under the new contract, commissioners will be able to review services in the context of budgetary pressures as well as manage any changes required due to a shift in policy and legislative changes.

 

Other options considered:

 

·  The option to do nothing was considered however this was discounted because there would be no ability to manage the market including quality assurance of the service that citizens receive and pricing.

·  The option to procure a Nottingham City Council only contract was rejected because joint commissioning with Nottinghamshire County Council provides more robust management of the market overall and the ability to manage pricing. This approach also simplifies the tender process for providers.

·  The option not to procure through an open process was rejected, as this approach would not meet obligations under EU and UK procurement rules.

Supporting documents: