4.Commissioning Model (DRAFT)

4.1The Council proposes to adopt the Commissioning Model recommended by the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA). This has four stages:

  • Analyse
  • Plan
  • Do
  • Review

Details about each stage and what Council staff will do in working through these are set out below.

4.2Stage 1: Analyse

The development of service specific commissioning strategies will involve:

  • comprehensive analysis of national policies and priorities relating to the service in question, the plans of relevant local agencies and Edinburgh’s Single Outcome Agreement;
  • an assessment of the current and predicted future demand for the service;
  • analysis of the resources committed to the current service;
  • consultation with relevant stakeholders, including service users and carers about the quality of current services and whether there are gaps in these;
  • the development of a shared understanding among stakeholders about the outcomes we want to achieve
  • analysis of the options for achieving agreed outcomes and the costs and affordability of these.

4.3Stage 2: Plan

Using the findings of our policy and financial analyses and the feedback obtained from consultation, a detailed Service Specification will be developed. This will describe for whom the service is intended, what the service will deliver and how its performance in supporting service users to achieve desired outcomes will be measured.

If the service is not to be delivered by the Council but purchased from a third party on behalf of service users, this stage will also involve deciding how the service will be procured[91].

In making this decision the Council is required to consider the need to achieve Best Value and comply with relevant procurement law, most of which is set out in the Public Contracts Regulations (Scotland) 2006.

Recent developments in procurement law have made it clear that the Council needs to consider whether the purchase of social care services should be tendered to ensure competition.

In the event of any new services being developed, which are to be delivered by a third party organisation, the Council plans to purchase these via a competitive tendering process except where:

  • advertising the contract would result in disproportionate costs to the Council and /or service providers (especially where the contract value is low)
  • the service is of a specialist nature and no market of suitable service providers exists
  • advertising the contract would result in the loss of a linked service
  • there are reasons of extreme urgency
  • the contract is to be awarded under an existing Framework Agreement, approved list or other qualification system, which has itself been the subject of adequate publicity/competition.

In respect of existing contracts the Council intends to:

  • continue to support the National Care Home Contract (for Older People’s Care Homes) and support the development of other national Framework Agreements where a Scotland wide contracting approach is considered appropriate;
  • adopt a staged approach to opening up existing contracts to competition by:
  1. progressing a competitive tender process for the renewal of Care at Home services (for older people and adults with physical disabilities) during 2011;
  1. analysing all other contracts with a view to benchmarking their quality and discussing with providers whether they are able to offer the Council cost savings The outcome of this exercise will be that:

(i)providers who meet quality requirements and are able to offer cost savings will have contracts extended on the basis that Best Value has been achieved;

(ii)services delivered by providers which do not meet quality standards will be prioritisedfor re-tendering;

(iii)services which meet quality standards but whose providers cannot fulfil other Best value requirements will be re-tendered in due course[92].

4.4Stage 3: Do

This stage in the commissioning cycle involves the implementation of the agreed procurement plan and secures the service for users.

In implementing procurement plans for specific services the Council will explain to service users and carers and other stakeholders:

  • the purchasing process
  • how long it will take to decide who will provide the service
  • how service users and carers will be involved in the process
  • how Trades Unions and their members will be involved in the process (where appropriate)
  • who will make the final decisions, how they will be made and when they will be made
  • how decisions will be communicated to service users and carers and other stakeholders
  • why there may be a change in service provider
  • how service provision may or will change as a result of the procurement process

In the event that the outcome of a procurement process involves the appointment of a new provider, transitional arrangements will be put in place to minimise disruption to service users and carers. The Council expects close cooperation between its staff and outgoing/incoming providers to meet this objective[93]. To ensure service users and carers are kept informed, the Council will contractually require incoming/outgoing providers to agree a statement with it which details change management arrangements and how service users and carers will be involved and/or affected by these. Providers will also agree the most appropriate arrangements for communicating this information to service users and carers..

Similarly, in the event a procurement process raises issues for an outgoing providers staff the Council expects both it and any incoming provider to give high priority to offering all necessary support to staff and meeting TUPE and any other obligations. Likewise, in the event services are outsourced by the Council or brought back ‘in house’ the Council will meet its obligations relating to consultation with Trades Unions and staff transfers.

4.5Stage 4: Review

The Council will pro actively monitor/review all contracts awarded throughout their duration. The outcomes of this work will be:

  • the good governance of contractual relationships between the Council and provider organisations
  • the adjustment of contract content/terms where these are mutually agreed by all concerned to be desirable in light of service users, carers and/or the providers practical experience of using/operating the service
  • identification of actual and potential risks arising for the Council and service users as a result of its contractual relationships and the implementation of risk mitigation strategies designed to promote continuous improvement in service delivery and outcomes for users
  • data collection, audit, interpretation and publication of information about provider performance with a view to improving service user, carer and other stakeholders’ understanding of provider performance standards and offering service users and carers a basis for making an informed choice when selecting a care/support provider
  • the purchase of services on a best value basis, i.e. that over the life of a contract services are demonstrably of good quality and are efficient and economic.

This work will be informed by:

  • feedback obtained from service users, carers and other stakeholders about their experience of services and the extent to which these are supporting the achievement of desired outcomes via questionnaires, meetings and focus groups
  • regular review of service Care Commission gradings
  • monitoring and further investigation where appropriate of compliments, complaints and serious incidents reported to the Care Commission and/or the Council
  • analysis of data obtained as a result of the introduction of Electronic Monitoring of (initially) Care at Home services
  • regular meetings with providers on an individual or collective basis
  • the findings of planned and unannounced visits to providers
  • budget monitoring activity

[91]We need a statment in here about how service users and carers will be kept informed/involved.

[92]This is light on engagement - do we need another paragraph in here?

[93]