Agenda item

This report offers an opportunity for the Panel to consider issues arising for the Council in relation to promoting a sustainable and diverse market place in light of the Care Act and following the Commissioning for Better Outcomes Peer Review undertaken in the borough.

Charlotte Pomery, Assistant Director Commissioning, provided an update on issues arising for the Council in relation to promoting a sustainable and diverse market place in light of the Care Act and following the Commissioning for Better Outcomes Peer Review that had recently been undertaken.

The panel was informed that, in January 2015, Haringey had put itself forward as one of the Commissioning for Better Outcomes Peer Challenge pilots, led by the Local Government Association. The panel was asked to note that the peer challenge process was not an inspection but designed to help an authority, and its partners, to assess current achievements, areas for development and capacity to change in a constructive way.

Charlotte Pomery explained that work carried out by the peer review team in relation to the domain of the requirement to promote a sustainable and diverse market place had contributed to the development of the Council’s work in this area.

The panel was informed that the peer review team had found that the Council had a number of strengths, including: strong and responsible leadership around the budget; data and analysis being looked at systematically to drive discussions around value for money; having a developed policy on anticipating and responding to provider failure; and positive engagement from providers to engage with the Council and deliver innovative services; among others.

It was noted that the review had also identified a number of areas for consideration by the Council moving forward, including:

-       Significant additional engagement required around next steps of budget consultation, ensuring clarity of options under consideration.

-       Lack of clear approach to address inflation up-lift and Fair Fee process.

-       An underdeveloped response to the current and future needs of older people and market supply of care.

-       Lack of collation of intelligence on the diversity of the market place and of how this was being used to inform and assist micro and macro commissioning.

During the discussion, reference was made to the following:

-       The fact that the Council had established a brokerage function, on a pilot basis, to micro-commission services for individuals following assessment and support planning.

-       Issues in relation to the National Living Wage and work that was being done to address inflation up-lift and to enact a Fair Fee process.

-       The Council’s Market Position Statement.

-       Information and analysis of Haringey’s local provider market for residential and nursing care in the borough.

-       The Voluntary and Community Sector Commissioning Framework.

-       The limited capacity for nursing care home placements available locally.

-       The decision to maintain Osborne Grove Nursing home as a nursing home, delivered through an NHS provider.

-       The CarePlace initiative (a software system) that enabled participating authorities to compare rates paid for care and support services. It was noted that this information placed local authorities in a stronger negotiating position with providers.

Charlotte Pomery advised the review findings had helped to shape areas of work that the Council had been developing and the Council had acted in response to each of the areas identified for consideration (as outlined in sections 5.7 – 5.9 of the report).

 AGREED:

(a)  That the Commissioning for Better Outcomes Peer Review and the actions taken in response to its findings with regard to the market be noted.

(b)  That the continued work to maintain positive relationships with and to develop the provider market be noted.

(c)    That an update on promoting a sustainable and diverse market place, including areas identified for consideration by the peer review team, be prioritised as part of the panel’s future work programme for Autumn 2016.