In line with Council Standing Order 4.7.1 all contracts with an estimated value of over £2m must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee before inviting tenders. This report details the above requirement.

The report (Document “E”) of the Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing  sets out the Independent Advocacy Service commissioning project being undertaken.  This activity is in line with the Department’s procurement plan and the Department’s Transformation Programme work.  This is a collaborative project with the Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Bradford City CCG and Bradford Districts CCG.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Alex Lorrison/ Kerry James – 01274 435064/ 01274 432576)

In line with Council Standing Order 4.7.1 all contracts with an estimated value of over £2m must be reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee before inviting tenders.

The report (Document “E”) of the Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing set out the Independent Advocacy Service commissioning project being undertaken.  This activity was in line with the Department’s procurement plan and its Transformation Programme work.  This was a collaborative project with the Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Bradford City CCG and Bradford Districts CCG.

During presentation of the report it was explained that the current services were provided by five providers under 15 arrangements, of which some were joint funded arrangements with the NHS and some were in the form of Council grants.  The purpose of the procurement exercise was to end a multi-contract arrangement and continue providing services under two providers while planning to meet future demand and the Council’s statutory advocacy duties.  The new services would commence on 1 April 2018.

In response to Members’ questions it was reported that:

·         The figures provided in table 4.2 of the report represented how the new services would be configured. 

·         The service was facing huge increases in demand for Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLs) and the various forms of statutory advocacy that came from it while maintaining a similar budget envelope to deliver advocacy services.

·         All current providers were invited to see the draft plan in January 2017 and further events were held with current providers and potential providers thereafter.  30 organisations had attended these engagement events and two more were planned for September and October 2017.

·         No service contracts had been awarded beyond 1 April 2018.

·         The tender would be advertised as two lots in an open tender process.

·         The Council would be providing ‘tender ready’ training to any interested parties.

·         The department had recently developed its own internal governance arrangements therefore the advocacy project would report to the department’s Procurement Assurance Board and Transformation Programme Board to ensure it aligned with the department’s vision and priorities.

·         This was a District-wide service and advocates would be facilitated to meet service users at their location, as was the case currently.

·         Factors such as the demographic of the District had been considered and worked into the model.

·         The Independent Complaints Advocacy service had been commissioned through corporate procurement.  It was under £2m therefore was not reported to this Committee.

·         Advocacy services for people with autism were built into the service plan.

A co-opted Member stated that a number of concerns had been put to the Strategic Disability Partnership from service users who were worried that the changes in provision could lead to the loss of valued and trusted relationships with experienced advocates.  Service users felt vulnerable and wanted reassurances that they would still receive a service from someone who would understand their needs.  In response, the Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing assured Members that the on-going process, including consultation, would be carried out robustly.

A number of concerns were put by Members in relation to highly skilled and experienced staff being lost in the change process and the impact this could have on service users.  Given that future demand was being catered for by the procurement process, a Member commented that further backlogs were reported to the Committee following this exercise it would signify a failure in the process. 

A representative of Choice Advocacy, a Bradford-based charity providing advocacy services to adults with learning disabilities within the District, addressed the Committee to represent concerns raised by the five existing providers.  He spoke of the need to ensure national quality standards were met by all bidders in the tendering process, raised concerns about the lack of a full impact assessment of the implications of awarding contracts out of the District and stated that additional services which were currently provided by existing providers, outside their contract remit, would be lost and the impact across the District would be significant.  He stated that he would submit written questions after the meeting as requested by the Chair but emphasised the need for strategic discussions on funding advocacy services as they were provided for other services too such as housing, debt, legal and judicial issues.

In response, the Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing, while acknowledging the concerns raised regarding quality standards, stated that they related to the ‘specification’ and the tender process was not yet at that stage.  She stated that it was a challenging process and referred to some of the issues raised as potentially describing the social care crisis facing the country.  She referred to the personalisation agenda and the need to get providers to sign up to Individual Service Funds (ISF).  She assured Members that the Council was not just going to carry out its statutory duties only, that all issues were being considered in reviewing how the service would be procured and that there was time to undertake further consultations and engagement prior to the commencement of the contract.

Resolved –

(1)        That the Committee’s comments, including around consultation,          be taken into account.

(2)        That a report on advocacy services, including performance on meeting statutory requirements, be submitted to the Committee in            2018/19.

ACTION: Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing