Total Transformation Network for Social Innovation

Project 4: Developing the external provider market

Possible Participants: Lancs, Cambridge, Sheffield, Hackney, Cumbria, West Sussex, Essex

Outcome

A set of tools to scope the existing social care market across a Local Authority area and to provide the components of an ongoing market management strategy and it’s implementation.

Components

This work will have several strands which will be developed in parts by the various Local Authorities involved.

Strands of work

  1. Involving providers – Various methodologies will be developed and recorded which will look at raising awareness and developing an ongoing dialogue with providers. Examples of these will be awareness seminars and workshops, provider briefing sessions, provider focus sessions around particular user groups and the development of provider champion groups.
  2. Helping providers to change– We will develop a whole series of tools for providers to enable them to raise awareness, market themselves to the new consumer, develop responsive business management systems to support sds and initiate cultural change within their own organisations.
  3. A new way of commissioning –This work is integral to the wider self directed support agenda and therefore will be closely aligned with the commissioning agenda.Moving from block commissioning to Individual service funds will enable some real cost analysis to take place and therefore open up a transparent market place to the consumer.
  4. Provider Led Brokerage – This is an option for some Local Authorities’ to look at whilst others felt it wouldn’t work. This will give us the opportunity to explore this concept further and develop tried and tested models for provider led brokerage. We will monitor the outcomes and make comparatives to alternative ways of brokering support.
  5. Market management – Developing a new role for Local Authorities in facilitating and stimulating the market whilst ensuring the consumer has a wide range of options available at best value.
  6. Micro enterprise, Social enterprise and Co-production – Innovating new providers and new ways of providing support will be essential to a rich and diverse market place. We will explore some of the new real local innovations taking place and look at the potential to replicate models in other areas.
  7. Workforce development and training – This will look at the staff skills required to work in this new world and will link with the wider workforce agenda including the Skills for Care New Types of Worker programme.
  8. Technologies which can help e.g. real time monitoring, shop4support - These will be a crucial part of developing the external provider market. We will look at where these are being used and how they will compare to areas which choose to do something different.
  9. Resources, guides and learning materials – In ControlHosting a wide range of useful information which is easy to access.
  10. A Transformed market – Plotting milestones to develop a real scale timeline for a transformed market.

Outputs

These will need to be defined by project participants but a preliminary list may include:

  1. A guide which clearly demonstrates tried and tested methodologies for raising awareness and engaging with providers about self directed support.
  2. A provider toolkit which gives a clear directive on how to restructure your business from the wholesale model to a retail, consumer focussed service.
  3. A collation of trailblazing providers who have developed individual service funds and a step by step analysis on how they have achieved this. This will link in to the work stream on commissioning.
  4. Case studies of provider led brokerage and the outcomes for people.
  5. Looking at the wider world of business and lessons learnt on how markets are facilitated and managed for the consumer market.
  6. Working with the third sector, voluntary organisations, community groups, social enterprise and micro providers to establish how we effectively work to develop creative community solutions.
  7. Linking with the workforce work stream developing real live examples of new ways of working have been innovated on the ground.
  8. Following the development and impact of the technologies available to assist the provider in their new business and recording the impact and effectiveness from all stakeholders.
  9. Collation of all papers and resources to be hosted in one place on the in Control website.
  10. The story so far - A timeline of real change for the provider market initiated (although likely to take longer to complete.

Work to include

  • Gathering examples of innovative practice from participating sites
  • Inviting experts to join the group for one or more meetings
  • Discussion with other key national and regional bodies, including employers organisations, professional organisations, trade unions and education and training bodies
  • Sites convening their own meetings with representation from their own commissioning bodies and providers
  • Testing materials and supporting those sites who will be implementing this first
  • Gathering learning from early implementers and revising materials
  • Sites involving their wider community in consultations
  • Events to promote the work

The Network: Roles

In Control Leads

As Strategic Innovation Network leads, Nigel and Caroline will:

  • Set up and host any meetings
  • Visit individual sites
  • Disseminate notes / agendas/ resources
  • Act as a single point of communication to support consistency and ensure that at least one person has track of all that is going on
  • Invite and inform experts/stakeholders where and when the group want them to attend
  • Publish notes and papers on the TT web pages for comment and development

Participating Sites

  • One named representative of each site will be closely involved within the work stream.
  • Each site will convene when necessary a group of people to work on this within their own area, and including partners from outside the Local Authority where appropriate
  • Undertake some of the drafting and writing work as and when the group is in a position to produce materials
  • Will involve their training department when appropriate
  • Will commit to producing resources which they are happy to adopt and use in their own area
  • Will aim to identify innovative practice among providers, and with support to promote this to others

Work

  1. Identify a clear achievable list of materials which this group will provide at the end of 18 months work
  2. Identify examples of innovative practice relating to materials listed which can inform our work
  3. Develop a set of materials, pilot, review and produce

Timescale

The project will be for 18 months from November, 2008 – there are 3 milestones 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. At each point a brief report and copies of any draft materials will be made available to the whole TT Community via the website.

The following is up for discussion and comment – please bear in mind that there is an expectation that Local Authorities support the project from their own resources.

The next six months....

By end of November there will also be a webpage as part of the TT/Network for Social Innovation suite of pages that all TT2 members will have access to. On these pages we will keep an up to date contacts list and will upload materials and notes as produced. This will be the primary method of communication for the project.

By end of November we will have a final list of participating Local Authorities, a nominated lead for each site, a list of emails and phone numbers circulated to each site.Each Local Authority will feed in to a ‘timescale of development’ for the strands of work which we have identified and what outputs they are willing to contribute to.

The workstream will be designed as aliveworking programme, opposed to a place that we all specifically meet. Our role will be to include everyone in this process, invite additional support in and co-ordinate and collate the learning as we go along. We will use the In Control website as the hub to host the work so far.In practice what this will mean is meeting up with you as part of your daily work, so we are not adding any additional pressures upon you, and supporting you withinany external provider related work.

We will plan to meetin fringe sessions at other gatherings as and when appropriate so we may touch base with each other.

The sign off of each of the outputs will be built into the ‘timescale of development’. If needed we will hold the occasional gathering as a full group which will link with the 3 milestones.

Questions and Comments are welcome – please feel free to contact Nigel and Caroline direct.

Many thanks

In Control Leads: Nigel Devine and Caroline Tomlinson

07968 166 609

07947 608 915