Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Terry Nathan and Councillor Charles Rideout.

Apologies for absence were also received from Justine Godbeer.

Councillor David Jefferys declared that he was the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board in relation to Item 5a: Proposal for the Council’s Public Health Budget 2016/17 and 2017/18.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Care Services Portfolio Holder or to the Chairman of this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5.00pm on Wednesday 3^rd February 2016.

Three written questions were received from Justine Godbeer, Co-opted Member representing Bromley Experts by Experience and these are attached at Appendix A.

Report CS16009

The Portfolio Holder introduced a report seeking authorisation to agree new maintenance contracts for the existing information systems used by the Housing Division for a two year period from 1^st April 2016.

The Housing Division used two information systems to support its business.  These comprised Home Connections which offered Choice based lettings functionality, and the Northgate Housing System which provided a range of services including an online housing application form, a case management service for housing advice, homeless cases and rent accounts, and a document management system, as well as providing statutory reporting functions.  The existing maintenance contracts for these systems would end on 31^st March 2016. 

Following consideration of a Gateway Review of Housing Information Systems in January 2015, Members had agreed to fund the procurement of a new information system which would meet the current and future statutory requirements of the Housing Division.  An initial tendering exercise had been undertaken which had not been successful in attracting bids, following which a range of alternative procurement options had been explored and would be reported to Care Services PDS Committee at its meeting on 10^th March 2016.

In order to ensure that the business of the Housing Division continued to be supported during the procurement process for a new information system, it was proposed that contracts be agreed with Home Connections and Northgate for the maintenance of the existing information systems for a maximum period of two years with the opportunity to terminate on three months’ notice if the new information system was implemented at an earlier date.

In considering the report, the Chairman was concerned that the initial tendering exercise had not been successful in attracting bids.  The Assistant Director: Housing Needs reported that only a small number of providers offered the kind of system needed by the Housing Division, and that these providers had been approached for feedback following the initial tendering exercise.  This process had identified that the ability of a number of these providers to submit bids had been limited by similar tenders being run by two large national organisations during the same period and by some of the providers moving to a new IT platform.  Some comments had also been made regarding the need to streamline processes and the split between quality and pricing, and these would be taken into consideration for future tendering exercises.  The initial tender specification had been drawn up by an IT Project Manager working with the Housing Division to ensure that the system would meet the current and future statutory requirements of the service, and best practice had also been drawn from similar tender specifications by other local authorities who had successfully attracted bids. 

In discussion, Members underlined the importance of ensuring that any future tender specification was drawn up to a high standard, and queried whether there was a need for additional expertise to support this.

A Member highlighted the delay to the procurement process caused by the unsuccessful initial tendering exercise, and queried  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73a

Report CS16002

The Committee considered a report setting out the proposal for the Public Health Budget for 2016/17 and 2017/18.

In July 2015, the Department for Health announced an in-year reduction in the Public Health grant of 6.1%, which equated to a reduction of £919,000 for the London Borough of Bromley.  In considering how Public Health services could best be delivered in future years following the reduction in grant funding, it was proposed that the provision and commissioning of key statutory and mandated Public Health services be prioritised, and that there be a reduction or cessation of provision and commissioning of non-statutory and non-mandated services.  It was also proposed that there should be a reprioritisation of the Public Health grant to address wider determinants of health, and that work be undertaken to achieve further general efficiencies across the Public Health division.

For 2016/17, it was proposed that the commissioned activity of sexual health and the commissioned and provided activity of NHS Health Checks be reduced, and that there be a cessation of the commissioned services for adult weight management and adult exercise referral scheme.  For 2017/18, it was proposed that there be a cessation of the commissioned services for general health improvement, smoking cessation and childhood obesity programme, and that there also be a cessation of the commissioned service for school nursing, although alternate funding for this service would be considered for 2016/17.  It was also proposed that there would be further general efficiencies across the Public Health Division including reduction or cessation of all non-statutory activities and costs.

Consultation on the proposal for the Council’s Public Health budget 2016/17 and 2017/18 had commenced with staff, trade unions and other stakeholders on 15^th January 2016 and would conclude on 15^th February 2016.

The Portfolio Holder for Care Services noted that the Public Health Budget for 2016/17 and 2017/18 was indicative as the Public Health grant had not yet been confirmed for 2016/17, but that the draft budget had been developed based on the expectations that further cuts of at least 3.9% would be made.  A Member reported that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be considering the proposal for the Council’s Public Health Budget 2016/17 as part of the full range of health services, and that there was scope to identify if some non-statutory and non-mandated services could be delivered in alternate ways, such as through voluntary organisations.

In considering the report, the Director of Public Health was pleased to advise Members that there had been a levelling off in the amount of childhood obesity in Bromley in 2015/16 whilst the national trend continued to increase. 

In response to a question from a Member, the Director of Public Health confirmed that the general efficiencies to be made across the Public Health Division would include wide ranging savings, such as making more effective use of online information and library services.  Work was also being undertaken to consider how some elements of non-statutory services could be delivered in a different  ...  view the full minutes text for item 74a

Report CS16017

The Committee considered the Contract Award for Supported Living Services – Scheme 1 (3 Properties) – Summary Report which outlined the process for the tendering of three learning disability supported living schemes.

At its meeting on 15^th July 2015, the Council’s Executive considered a Gateway Report on the provision of supported living services for eleven people with significant disabilities living in three properties, and projecting the need for these services to be maintained for future service users in order to reduce residential care placements.  The report detailed the proposed commissioning strategy for the tendering of these services which placed an emphasis on ensuring the continued safety and wellbeing of vulnerable service users whilst achieving efficiency savings.  The Council’s Executive agreed that the schemes be grouped for tendering in order to drive best quality and pricing and that commencement of the procurement procedure be approved to enable award of contract in accordance with the Local Authority’s financial and contractual arrangements. 

The tender process was undertaken using ProContract, the Local Authority’s electronic tendering system.  As it was considered that there would be significant interest in providing this service, a two stage open tender procedure was used.  A total of 106 suppliers expressed an interest in providing the service, of which 19 suppliers submitted compliant bids.  Following evaluation of the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, eight suppliers were shortlisted to go through to the second ‘service specific’ stage of the tender process.  The second stage of the tender process was evaluated on the basis of Award Criteria questions in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the suppliers’ submitted pricing schedules and were evaluated by a Panel of Officers on a split between finance (40%) and quality (60%).  Interviews were also held with suppliers to clarify any issues identified in the tender submissions, which included representation from a service user.

RESOLVED that:

1)  Member’s comments be noted; and,

2)  The Council’s Executive be recommended to note the Contract Award for Supporting Living Services – Scheme 1 (3 Properties) – Summary Report when considering the award of the tender.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it was likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The Committee considered the report and supported the recommendations.