Issue - meetings

[Report  of the Assistant Director for Commissioning. To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Children and Families.] Cabinet will be asked to consider the options appraisal of the Haslemere Road Centre following a Commissioning Review.

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families introduced the report which provided options for future care at Haslemere Respite Centre, a current specialist unit providing respite accommodation and day services for children with disabilities or other special additional needs.

The Cabinet Member highlighted the consultation undertaken with parents and carers of current service users where Option 2[outlined at appendix 1] was favoured as this ensured local provision continued and would enable more consistent stable standards of service provision.

RESOLVED

1. To approve option 2, as set out at appendix 1, allowing the Council to commission Haslemere Road Respite Centre either under a block contract with a specialist provider, or by renting out the Centre to a specialist provider from whom the Council and parents can spot purchase beds.

2. To provide the Assistant Director of Commissioning, after consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member, with delegated authority to make the decision on whether to commission the Centre under a block contract or by renting out the Centre. 

Reasons for decision

The Council had gone through a robust Commissioning Review of Haslemere Road Respite Centre, through which three options have been appraised (more details can be found in Appendix 1).

By commissioning the Centre (Option 2), the Council would ensure that:  

The Centre would be commissioned to a single specialised provider, which would provide the packages of respite we need under a block contract.

Or

The Centre would be commissioned to a single specialised provider through a rental agreement of the premises, which provider would provide the packages of respite we need on a spot purchasing basis.

This option would offer the possibility of fully utilising the centre on Mondays, and Tuesdays and during the day on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

By commissioning the centre, service users would get better Value for Money (VfM), both in terms of Quality (all the suppliers we engaged have Good or Outstanding Ofsted Ratings) and Price.

Through commissioning the Centre, the Council would keep its service local to the community, thus keeping transport costs down and families happy.

Through block-contracting, the Council would continue to be able to manage the prioritisation of cases and the acceptance criteria for the Centre’s use.

Through renting out the Centre to a specialist provider the Council would:

·        Have more flexibility in reviewing this provision in the future.

·        Offer the supplier the possibility of having a more sustainable model, as they can develop a business model that fully utilises the asset, without relying on the Council for full funding

·        Offer the possibility for other Boroughs to use the centre through spot purchasing (with the possibility of the Council receiving preferential rates from the supplier)

·        Be receiving rent for the building (currently estimated at £71k per annum).

·        Transferring Ofsted accountability to the new provider.

Through commissioning the Centre, the Council has the potential to address the overspend and come back to budget, in time even be able to have a surplus of cc £50k-£121k.

Under this option, the 14 staff assigned to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46