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 Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing will submit Document “D” which provides details of the intention to re-commission Home Support Services within the District.

Recommended –

That the Committee discuss the contents of Document “D”  and consider any equality and diversity, TUPE and social value implications at this pre- procurement stage in accordance with Council Standing Orders in 4.7.1.

(Paul Hunt/Leonie Heyes – 01274 431748)

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 Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing submitted Document “D” which provided details of the intention to re-commission Home Support Services within the district.

A presentation was provided to Members outlining the current situation with Home Support Services and issues the authority needed to address.  The presentation included the following information:

·         Home Support Services had been retendered under a framework agreement in 2016.

·         There were 99 CQC registered providers in Bradford.

·         3,701 people were provided with 35,000 hours per week of home support.

·         Every week 50 new packages were brokered.

·         The annual cost of Home Support Services was £43m.

·         The current framework was due to expire in September 2018 with an option to extend it for a further 12 months.

·         The authority had recently made investments in home support.

·         The market of providers was relatively small in Bradford and there had been a 5% reduction in providers in the last 12 months.

·         There was a need for more out of hours home support.

·         There was a need to improve the number of people who were self-directing their support.

·         Provision needed to be aligned with localities.

·         The intention would be for the tender to include a number of small locality contracts specifically for geographic areas.

·         Contracts covering smaller areas would allow the recruitment of staff who did not drive.

·         The intention would be to adopt the principles of the Ethical Care Charter, develop out of hours services, enhance First Response services and cease the use of 15 minute home care visits.

·         Key principles to underpin the approach:

·         Focus on dignity, compassion and respect

·         Individual-led personalised support plans

·         Focus on reablement

·         Embed sustainable arrangements

In response to a Member’s question, it was reported that ceasing the 15 minute home care visits was about being more outcome focused rather than time focused.  There could be an option for a service user to ‘bank’ time to use later if they only required short visits.  The benefits of locality contracts would mean that the service user saw more of the same staff and travel time for staff would be reduced.

The Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing stated that significant investments had been made to improve the delivery of home care support and she was confident that the service, with longer home care visits, could be sustained by working differently and with the use of technology to complement the face to face contact.  She also, in response to a Member’s question, stated that reablement services were offered to people in their own homes but she considered there was room to develop the service within a community setting.

A Member praised the use of technology and stated that it was important to consider its use at the beginning of a process, including audio for service users who were blind, and embedding it so it was used effectively.

A Member requested information on the pros and cons of the preferred option (option five) within paragraph nine of the report, as it had been provided for all other options but that one.  In response, the officer apologised for the omission and stated that the pros were that the contract would allow for flexibility and the model had worked successfully in Bradford previously and the con was that the contracts were smaller so they may not attract some larger organisations.

Following a short discussion on the need and timescale for a further report on Home Support Services, it was;

Resolved –

(1)       That the report be noted.

(2)       That a progress report on Home Support Services be submitted to Members in December 2019.

ACTION: Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing