Agenda item

Report ACH22-001

The Committee considered a report which sought Executive approval to commence the procurement of a new Advocacy Service to ensure the Council met its statutory duty in providing an Advocacy Service under the Care Act 2014 and Care and Support Advocacy Service Regulations 2014.

The current Advocacy Service contract would expire on 31^st March 2023 and there was no further option to extend this contract, which was in its final extension period. The contract was awarded to Advocacy for All following a competitive tender and commenced on 1^st April 2018 for a period of three years with the option to extend up to a further two years on a 1 year +1 year basis. 

The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning advised that the report set out details of the specification and indicative key performance indicators (KPIs). The service would be delivered to both adults and children, and it was highlighted that the current provider had been delivering a very good service. During the procurement process, in co-production with providers, they would be looking at how areas of the service could be improved. The estimated annual value of the service would be £321,900.

In response to a query regarding the quality criteria, the Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning said that if the recommendation was approved by the Council’s Executive, the commissioning team would establish a Tender Project Group which would be responsible for developing the quality criteria to be used to assess the tender bids. It was not possible to share the quality criteria as it had not yet been devised.

From past experience it was evident that co-production of the quality criteria with service providers was needed in order to reflect best interests of the client group.

Previous evaluation criteria were presented to the providers and other stakeholders as a baseline. This was available in draft form and could be circulated to Members following the meeting. The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning highlighted that additional areas of focus for the criteria would relate to social value and information governance. In response to a further question regarding social value, the Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning said that for a recent domiciliary care tender this had been factored into the service specification. Providers were encouraged to provide, via their tender bids, information on the number of apprenticeships; supported internships for people with learning disabilities; and outreach with local schools.

A Co-opted Member enquired about what had accounted for the increase in referrals for Children and Young People Advocacy, Independent Mental Health Advocacy and Learning Disability Advocacy. The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning said that providers had indicated that this was mainly due to the impact of the pandemic, and with more people accessing social care, and supply had been increased to meet this demand.

A Member noted that if changes were to be made to the contract there should be provision within the timescale for it to be brought back to the Committee for scrutiny. It was therefore considered that a further report should be presented to the Committee before the tender process commenced in July 2022. The pressures on the budget were highlighted and following the impact of the pandemic, areas such as adults with learning disabilities, mental health and domestic violence were likely to see a continued increase in demand. It would be beneficial for Members to see the feedback from service users in terms of how they had used the service over the past couple of years. Another Member supported the comments made and highlighted that demand exceeded the statutory targets set – if another report was brought to the Committee, it would allow Members to be further informed.

The Head of Service for Community Living Commissioning gave reassurance that feedback from service users would inform the specification. It was noted that this would be a spot contract and therefore referrals would continue to be made directly into the service, or via a Council department such as social care. To ensure that the service had a wider reach there would also be a virtual offer.

The Chairman considered that, as time allowed, an additional Gateway 1 report could be requested. Members agreed that prior to going to market, a report should be brought back to the Committee outlining the engagement undertaken with the market, details of the specification, and the KPI service user consultation. The Committee agreed that the recommendation be amended as follows:

RESOLVED that a further report outlining the engagement undertaken with the market, details of the specification, and the KPI service user consultation for the Advocacy Service contract will need to be presented to the Executive, via pre-decision scrutiny at the Adult Care and Health PDS Committee.