Decision details

The Cabinet considered the report of the Head of Adult Social Care which sought approval to commence a procurement exercise for the provision of complex care and support services.

The report also provided details of the proposed approach for the procurement under Liverpool City Region (LCR) joint working arrangements using the flexibilities permitted under the ‘light touch regime’ for social and other services as listed at Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, whereby the LCR intends to create a bespoke Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) which will operate as a common, shared ‘marketplace’.

Decision Made: That

(1)      approval be given to the commencement of a procurement exercise, to be led by Liverpool City Council as part of LCR joint working arrangements, which will encompass a Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) being implemented from April 2019, for the provision of Complex Care and Support services;

(2)      the Head of Adult Social Care in consultation with the Cabinet Member (Adult Social Care) be granted delegated authority to implement decisions regarding the FPS procurement evaluation criteria, service specification, outcome and quality monitoring framework, and contractual terms. Such decisions to be made in advance of any procurement exercises commencing and will be collective decisions by all participating authorities; and

(3)      following its establishment, authority be given to the use of the FPS for the future procurement of complex care and support services, where an options appraisal, as described in this report, has determined it to be the most appropriate approach.

Reasons for Decision:

Following endorsement of the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Devolution Agreement in June 2015, Health and Social Care leaders across the six Local Authorities (Sefton / Halton / Knowsley / Liverpool / St Helen’s / Wirral), were tasked with exploring the potential for greater collaboration. 

The LCR Strategic Leadership Board has identified an opportunity to create a single FPS for adults with complex care needs as a key development in the collaborative working programme. The FPS will create a single-entry point for the six Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) partners to commission services and a single route for providers to register to supply services. There will be a common set of contract terms and service specifications in operation across LCR which will include a shared outcome and quality monitoring framework.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

Maintaining the Status Quo – this was not considered a viable option as the current mechanism for the procurement of Complex care and support services in Sefton does not encompass any collaborative working and as result, Sefton are unable to benefit from the collective buying power that the proposed approach encompasses in that all authorities will be able to better shape the overall market and encourage more innovation and higher quality from providers. In addition, feedback from Providers indicated that the proposed approach to jointly procure services was viewed by them as being more efficient in that in means that Providers do not have to go through numerous separate procurement exercises which are onerous and result in them having to adhere to different contractual and service delivery requirements.  The proposed approach also includes the development of a shared service specification which can be adapted in order to ensure that services in Sefton can be tailored to the specific needs of the communities it serves.  The FPS would result in there being additional options for the procurement of services. Sefton will still be able to procure services outside of the FPS where that is the most appropriate approach.