Agenda item

Report ED15073

The Committee considered a report outlining a proposal to expand the scope of the market testing of Education Services to additional services not included in the original bundle of services agreed for market testing by the Council’s Executive at its meeting on 16^th October 2013. 

The recommendation to commence market testing was developed following consideration of the outcomes of a commissioning review undertaken on a range of Education Services as part of the Bromley Commissioning Programme, which aimed to identify future delivery options to assist in the achievement of the Council’s Target Operating Model as a ‘… commissioning organisation, determining who is best placed to deliver high quality services based on local priorities and value for money principles’.  The commissioning review considered the potential to deliver a range of services through either in-house or commissioned external provision as a single bundle of services including Admissions, Education Welfare, Behaviour Services (certain elements only), School Standards, Workforce Development and Governor Services, Early Years and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Inclusion Support. 

It was now proposed to expand the scope of the market testing of Education Services to include strategic management functions, the residual functions of the Behaviour Service following the conversion of the Pupil Referral Unit to academy status, the Special Educational Needs service, including the Specialist Support and Disability Service and pre-school provision at the Phoenix Centre, and Bromley Adult Education (as a separate lot).  Bromley Nursery Provision, Education Finance and Human Resources and Special Educational Needs Transport were not included in the proposed expansion of the scope of the market testing of Education Services.

At its meeting on 16^th October 2013, the Council’s Executive had also agreed the commencement of discussions with relevant schools for a contract for services for the Primary Hearing Impairment Unit and Secondary Deaf Centre.  Following commencement of discussions with service managers and relevant schools, a number of issues had been identified including concerns around entering into separate management arrangements between the Primary Unit, the Secondary Unit and the Sensory Support Service, which would remove the ability to manage resources across the individual service elements in a flexible manner, as well as how the specialist service would operate as an effective service if managed by individual schools.  It had also been identified that the separate management of the three elements of the service would lead to multiple management structures and duplication of costs.  For these reasons it was not considered feasible to enter into separate management arrangements with the relevant schools for the Hearing Impairment Unit provision and it was recommended that the Hearing Impairment Unit provision be included as part of the overall Special Educational Needs (SEN) Inclusion Support service, to be market tested as part of a single bundle of services.

It was emphasised that in conducting a market testing exercise, no assumption was made as to the outcome.  The recommendations following the market testing exercise might be that some or none or the Education service functions being market testing would best be delivered by a third party via a contract for services or similar arrangement, or through in-house provision.  Appropriate engagement would take place with service users, staff and key stakeholders as part of the market testing process and in the implementation of any agreed outcomes of the process.

In considering the report, the Chairman noted that the proposal to market test further Education services as part of a single bundle of services had been developed to reduce potential fragmentation and duplication of services and maximise value for money for service users.  The Chairman underlined that when evaluating the outcomes of the market testing, the Education PDS Committee would not support any proposal where the quality of provision would not be the same or better than the current level of provision, and that service quality would be maintained through rigorous monitoring processes. 

The Children and Families Bill would be implemented from September 2014.  The Strategic Commissioning Manager confirmed that the principle of integrated commissioning across education, care and health services in the Children and Families Bill would be intrinsic to the provision of services in the future, and that this would be supported through a joined-up planning process and partnership working.  It was possible that different mechanisms for commissioning provision would be explored in the future to support closer working of education, care and health services.  Any potential provider of services would be expected to work with the Local Authority and Bromley Healthcare in planning services collectively, and the way a provider would manage this requirement was likely to form part of the market testing process.

A Co-opted Member highlighted the Local Authority’s responsibility for securing high quality ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes for all children in the Borough.  It was key to ensure the Local Authority retained sufficient strategic capacity to monitor the achievement of ‘Every Child Matters’ outcomes across all schools and academies in Bromley.  Another Co-opted Member was concerned at the proposal to broaden the market testing exercise to include the Early Years Special Educational Needs Support Service, and suggested that the market testing exercise be broadened to look at the impact any change in delivery mechanism of the provision would have on families and early years providers, as well as at cost and quality of provision.

A Co-opted Member noted the restructure of the Behaviour Services, which was currently in progress and, if agreed, would lead to the cessation of the Early Intervention Services (Primary) and Behaviour Support (Secondary Outreach) cost centres with several of their functions expected to be carried out by the Bromley Alternative Provision Academy.  The Co-opted Member advised Members that Bromley schools placed a high value on the work of the Early Intervention Service.  The Strategic Commissioning Manager confirmed work was being undertaken to explore different ways of delivering these services, which could include delivery by the Bromley Alternative Provision Academy.  The Assistant Director: Education also advised Members that the Bromley Alternative Provision Academy aimed to become a hub of behaviour support services for Bromley, with an emphasis on early intervention and preventative work that would support children and young people to remain in a mainstream school setting.  To support this, two primary behaviour support staff had been seconded from the Behaviour Service to the Bromley Alternative Provision Academy, and a consultant was working with the Bromley Alternative Provision Academy to look at the operation of the Fair Access Protocol and how a funding mechanism could be developed to enable Bromley schools to commission support as needed.

A Co-opted Member queried how young people with special educational needs would be involved in the market testing process.  The Strategic Commissioning Manager confirmed that service users and their families would be engaged in a number of ways depending on the level of change proposed to any service and the specific needs of service users and their families.

RESOLVED that the Executive be recommended to:

1)  Expand the scope of the market testing of Education Services to include strategic management functions; the residual functions of the Behaviour Service; the Special Educational Needs service (including the Specialist Support & Disability Service); and Bromley Adult Education;

2)  Reject the option to explore management arrangements with relevant schools for the Hearing Impairment Units and include the Hearing Impairment Units within the SEN Inclusion Support service as part of the overall market testing process;

3)  Commence the market testing tendering process as per the timetable outlined in Paragraph 3.61 of Report ED15073 and that a Competitive Dialogue approach be used as outlined in Paragraphs 3.59 to 3.61 of Report ED15073; and,

4)  Note that a further report detailing the outcome of the market testing and recommendations be reported to a future meeting of the Council’s Executive, and that this report describe how quality of service and support for children would be monitored and enforced.