Issue - meetings

To receive an update on progress recruiting a provider to undertake training and recruitment of in-house foster carers 

NOTED the update given by the Head of Service, Children in Care and Placements on the progress on recruiting a provider to undertake training and recruitment of in-house foster carers. The report was included in the agenda pack (pages 23 to 26).  The Committee noted that an options appraisal to consider the preferred delivery model proposed that the service continue to be commissioned externally and that a procurement exercise was undertaken to seek a provider to deliver this contract over the next period. No provider came forward to bid for this work.

The Committee noted that following a process of consultation with potential bidders to understand why they did not bid and what would be required to for them to bid in future, a decision had been made to return to the market. It was noted that the timescales for this process were still to be determined through discussions between the Head of Service, Children in Care and Placements and AD Commissioning. The Committee were advised that if there was little further interest from that market then negotiations may recommence with NRS about them continuing to deliver the service but concerns remained over performance issues.

Head of Service CIC advised that alongside the above, the authority would be looking into a series of options in the medium to long term. These options included building collaborative relationships with neighbouring boroughs to develop a shared service model across borough boundaries for the provision of foster care. A further option was the development of proposals to use a micro-enterprise model to support people to become foster carers. The committee was advised that this approach would work at a community level but neither building collaborative relationships nor a micro-enterprise model would deliver a pipeline of potential carers in the short and medium term.  The final option was noted as return to proposals to develop an in-house service. This was not the preferred option when the appraisal was carried out earlier this year, given capacity issues within the service and the fact that there are significant fixed costs in establishing a new team with no guarantee of foster care recruitment. Head of Service CIC advised that a key lesson was the need for the service to drive its own marketing and communications strategy in any future adoption contract.

AD Safeguarding advised that one of the main issues in the contract with NRS was a failure to specify the need for carers across the whole range of ages of foster children and not just babies and young children. The Chair requested a further update on the second bidding process to the next meeting of the Committee.

Action: Dominic Porter Moore