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Question from: County Councillor Pete Lewington Subject: Follow Up Question on Care Services
Question:
In response to my previous question relating to care services the portfolio holder stated that:- “all bids for the renewal of existing care and support services contracts are assessed in accordance with the Council’s standing tender procedures and contract awards are made to the bidder who best demonstrates the capability to deliver the service as set out in the service specification. The tendering process is robust and rigorous.”
Could the portfolio holder confirm that as part of the tendering process any inspection reports documenting the findings of the Care Inspectorate Wales in respect of all bidders are taken into account and all priority actions required and improvement recommendations will not only be fully considered but diligently scrutinised to ensure they have been satisfactorily addressed?
In addition could the portfolio holder confirm that people receiving the care services subject to renewal will be consulted about the level of care and support they have experienced by the current care provider? After all these are the most important people in the whole process and their views should be a fundamental factor in the awarding of any renewal of an existing contract – we cannot risk putting any individual receiving support at risk of harm
Minutes: Response by the Cabinet Member:
Thank you for your further question on this matter. I understand that a senior officer has met with you to discuss a specific relevant issue recently and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to clarify some matters further.
I can confirm that Care Inspectorate Wales reports on providers are diligently scrutinised by commissioners and the Council's contract monitoring team both at the qualification stage of the tendering process and during the life of a contract. This often leads to work with the organisations involved in order to support improvement and to ensure service effectiveness and safety. Any such current reports and actions are, therefore, fully considered by the commissioning service.
I'm also pleased to be able to confirm that care service receivers' views are canvassed by the contract monitoring team as a part of the regular contract monitoring process. This information is then available as contextual information to commissioners when they are tendering for service provision.
With thanks again, and best wishes.
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