Agenda item

NOTED the Commissioning of Foster Care Recruitment report introduced by the Head of Service, Children in Care and Placements, which was included in the agenda pack at pages 21-23. The Committee was advised that a review was undertaken in 2016 and it was agreed to put the contract out to tender. This was unsuccessful and no bids were received for the contract. Following the tender, a market testing exercise was undertaken by the Commissioning team which identified 4 external providers. A further tendering exercise was undertaken, which resulted in a solitary bid for the contract. The bid was assessed in March and it was concluded that the provider did not meet the requirements of the tender on cost grounds.

The Head of Service, Children in Care and Placements advised that an interim contract with the former contractor had been extended until the end of June 2017. The Committee noted that the contract was based on payment by results and that four new foster carers had been brought to Panel since January 2017. Given the poor market response, it had been agreed to take forward an interim in-house model whilst other options were considered. The Committee were advised that the options were:

·         A neighbouring local authority taking on the training and recruitment function.

·         A partnership arrangement with a neighbouring council to take on all the activity for the fostering function recruitment training and approvals.

·         The North London Fostering & Adoption Consortium providing either of the two options above as a collective.

·         Implementing an in-house foster care service

It was anticipated that initial feedback on the viability of these options would be received in April. In order to ensure that the department fulfilled its statutory duty as a fostering agency, an interim recruitment team had been set up which would be working closely with the communications team.

The Committee expressed its ongoing concerns about the delays to the process and the failed attempts to go out to the market. The Chair acknowledged that nobody was happy with the current arrangements and reiterated that bringing the foster care recruitment service back in-house was one option that was being examined. Officers advised that the challenge facing the Council was ensuring that any future in-house service did not perform as poorly as it had done prior to 2014, when the decision was taken to go out to the private sector. It was suggested that strong active management of the service was key determinant in a successful service, particularly given the challenges faced in an increasingly difficult market.

The Committee sought assurances that the assessment of options and the ultimate outcome of the decision would be firmly based upon evidence. The Chair acknowledged these concerns but also cautioned that the Council needed to have appropriate foster care services in place, and that that there was a balance between the need to develop a firm evidence base and the need to deliver at pace.  Officers advised that the costings for the interim service were still being assessed by the Commissioning team.