To consider the Cabinet report and Action Plan developed following the review into the letting of the domiciliary care contract.
Minutes:
Documents:
· Report of the Portfolio Holders for Adult Social Care and Finance and Performance
· Original and updated Action Plans
· Learning Document – Adult Social Care
Issues:
· The Strategic Director, People was responsible for one element of the Action Plan and the Strategic Director, Resources responsible for two elements
· The report had been accepted by Cabinet
· The Action Plan had been updated and circulated to Members
Discussion:
· Names against some actions still needed to be updated
· Members expressed concerns that commissioning was being adequately dealt with – not only the initial commissioning but the managing and monitoring of projects. The Strategic Director, Resources informed the Committee that the Authority had taken steps to strengthen commissioning and a Commercial Services Team was now in place. This would ensure greater engagement in the future. He went on to say it was essential that sufficient resource was available to ensure continuing improvements and deliver change. Senior managers had also developed a greater awareness of commissioning.
· A comment was made that both the Chief Executive and Leader had been leading when the initial contract had been let, and were now responsible for implementing corrections. A query was raised whether there would be any external oversight. It was noted that the commissioning of the domiciliary care contract was a corporate issue and that Management Team had considered best practices to ensure that there would not be a reoccurrence.
· The Chair of People Scrutiny Committee had concerns that resources to remedy the domiciliary care issue had disadvantaged other projects such as the re-letting of the residential care contract. He asked whether there was sufficient resilience and resource within the Council to deal with these issues. The Strategic Director, Resources responded that there was sufficient resource and acknowledged the delays in taking the contract forward. Lessons must be learned. The Senior Strategic Commissioning Manager informed the Committee that commissioning over the next two to three years had been prioritized and resourced appropriately. A team is being put together to support the Adult Social Care Commissioning Team to ensure the residential care contract is delivered on time. This additional resource had been provided to cover not just the reletting of the BUP contract but more extensive work to address provision in both the private and voluntary sectors over the next 25 to 30 years. The Head of Transformation noted that there was no evidence to suggest that better terms could have been negotiated if the contract had been dealt with earlier. He reassured Members that work was in hand to ensure planning was in place for April 2017.
· The Committee noted the references to scrutiny and were of the opinion that the matter should have been considered by scrutiny earlier in the process
· The Chair informed the Committee that concerns regarding challenge of the Commissioning and Procurement Board had been raised and sought assurance that the Board were fully aware of their role and responsibilities
· It was acknowledged that this had been a wider corporate failure and not just People Services that lessons had to be learned. One of the driving factors in commissioning domiciliary care had been the need to deliver savings and the process had been undertaken quickly. More preparation time should have been allowed which may have enabled more effective scrutiny to take place. The Strategic Director Resources confirmed meetings were taking place with Heads of Service to ensure that all savings identified over the next three years are supported by a robust plan. The level of support required needs to be quantified and the Authority must recognise that transformation will require funding. This must be factored into individual business cases
· The Chair questioned the level of engagement with scrutiny and Audit Committee despite both being mentioned in the Action Plan
Outcome:
· That the implementation of the Action Plan continue to be monitored by the Audit Committee
Supporting documents: