Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director for Adult Social Care and Health

Tracey Ford, Changing Futures Senior System Change Commissioning Manager, presented the report and stated the following:

a)  Changing Futures Nottingham aims to improve outcomes for people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantages, one of four priorities in the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-25;

b)  from 2022 to 2024 it was funded exclusively by the national Changing Futures programme, a partnership between the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the National Lottery Community Fund. A new recurrent funding stream was secured from NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board for 2024/25–2029/30;

c)  Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and National Lottery Community Fund funding was due to end on 31 March 2025. However, the programme has now been offered ringfenced funding by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government / the National Lottery Community Fund for continuation of existing services until March 2026. This will enable retention of current capacity and maximise impact of the programme;

d)  a further additional request for funding was made to the East Midlands Probation Service for specific probation focused elements of the programme until September 2026. This award has also been granted;

e)  the report requests approvals for receipt and spend of the new awards, and for re-commissioning of the Changing Futures services, additional to the core NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board funded services, in Nottingham City from 01 April 2025.

Resolved to

(1)  approve receipt of a ringfenced grant of:

(a)   £648,780 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and £207,377 from the National Lottery Community Fund, both for the period 01 April 2025 to 31 March 2026;

(b)  £177,801 from the East Midlands Probation Service for the period 01 April 2025 to 30 September 2026;

(2)  approve retention of ringfenced grant accumulated underspend of £413,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the National Lottery Community Fund 2022-24 Changing Futures funding allocation;

(3)  delegate authority to Director of Public Health to:

(a)   in relation to receipt of the funding as per resolution 1(a) above, enter into a Memorandum of Understanding and grant agreements with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (under s31 of the Local Government Act 2003) and the National Lottery Community Fund (under s25 of the National Lottery Act 1993 (as amended));

(b)  in relation to receipt of the funding as per resolution 1(b) above, enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the East Midlands Probation Services;

(c)  approve the service model for the commissioning of additional Changing Futures services against the total budget available;

(d)  spend (additional to the core Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board funded services) £1,387,691 from 01 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 on Changing Futures services set out in the indicative budget at appendix A, and £61,210 from 01 April 2026 to 30 September 2026 on probation focused Changing Futures services;

(e)  in consultation with appropriate colleagues as necessary, procure, award and enter into new contracts, and modified contracts (as appropriate).

Reasons for recommendations

a)  Changing Futures funding was initially provided exclusively by the national Changing Futures programme, a partnership between the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and National Lottery Community Fund, between 2021/22 and 2024/25. The funding was due to end in March 2025, however Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and National Lottery Community Fund have announced an additional £10m of funding nationally for 2025 /26. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has awarded £648,780 to Nottingham and National Lottery Community Fund has awarded £207,377.

b)  Additionally, these funders have also agreed to the retention by Nottingham City Council of an accumulated underspend of £413,000 from the initial Changing Futures funding allocation, to be spent on continuation of previously agreed services.

c)  Recommendation 1a) seeks approval for the receipt of funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and for approval for the receipt of funding from the National Lottery Community Fund for the period 01 April 2025 to 31 March 2026. Recommendation 2 is for the retention of the underspend.

d)  In 2024/25 Probation funded 50% of the cost of the Probation Embedded Practitioner. It has now agreed to fund 100% of the service, plus a navigator to be focused on people on Probation. Recommendation 1b) seeks approval for receipt of this funding from East Midlands Probation Service of £177,801 from 01 April 2025 to 30 September 2026.

e)  This results in a total budget of £1,387,691 from 01 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, plus a further £61,210 to be spent on Probation services from 01 April 2026 to 30 September 2026.

f)  Recommendation 3d) seeks approval to spend the indicative budget of £1,387,691 from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, plus a further £61,210 from Probation from 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026, on the elements of the Changing Futures programme that remain unfunded by the core funding provided by the Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board.

g)  All of the funding for Changing Futures services commissioned by Nottingham City Council sits either under ring-fenced grant conditions (national Changing Futures grants from Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and National Lottery Community Fund, a partnership agreement (the Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board), or a Memorandum of Understanding (Probation) for which the Director of Public Health is accountable, and the resource must be stewarded in line with these conditions.

Other options considered

a)  Do nothing – not to accept and utilise funding as proposed. This option was rejected for the following reasons:

·  the elements of the programme outside of the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board core funding have been aligned such that they cease on 31 March 2025. Without re-commissioning or extending, there would be no additional commissioned Changing Futures services and a significant reduction in specialist, intensive provision for people experiencing severe and multiple disadvantages, with the Council failing to maximise the opportunity offered by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, National Lottery Community Fund and Probation grants;

·  under a ‘do nothing’ option, the only services would be the core elements funded by the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board. The Council would not fulfil its partnership role with wider preventative benefits with a lack of benefit for Nottingham residents. 

b)  To retender for new service providers where proposed and compliant, rather than extend or vary existing arrangements. This option was rejected for the following reasons:

·  the funding offered is for one year from 01 April 2025. Timescales from the notification of the award do not allow tender processes to take place and maximise the impact of the funding. A gap in provision would result in loss of experienced staff;

·  there has also been a recent procurement for the two main services, both of which anticipated such awards. Most existing services, all of which have been delivering successfully, can provide continuity of provision within Contract Procedure Rules. Where services cannot be extended compliantly, competitive quotes will be sought.