Agenda item

Liverpool City Region (LCR) Care and Support

Report of the Director of Social Care and Health

Minutes:

 

The Cabinet considered the report of the Director of Social Care and Health which sought approval to commence a procurement exercise for the provision of care and support services in existing and any future Extra Care Housing.

 

The report also detailed the proposed approach for the procurement of care and support services under Liverpool City Region (LCR) joint working arrangements and the approach to the development of the new model of service for Extra Care housing.

 

 

Decision Made:  That:

 

(1)            the commencement of a procurement exercise, to be led by Liverpool City Council as part of LCR joint working arrangements, which will encompass a Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS) being implemented from September 2018, for the provision of Care and Support services in Extra Care housing be approved; and

 

(2)            delegated authority be granted to the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing to oversee the work required on the Council’s approach to Extra Care Housing.

 

Reasons for the Decisions:

 

Following endorsement of the Liverpool City Region (LCR) Devolution Agreement in June 2015, Health and Social Care leaders across the six authorities were tasked with exploring the potential for greater collaboration.  In particular Sefton Council, Knowsley MBC and Liverpool City Council (known as the Tripartite) have several features in common, which has resulted in the three authorities developing a programme of collaborative work that focuses on Adult Social Care services in order to minimise the impacts of demographic and fiscal pressures placed on their budgets. 

 

One such area of work is Extra Care Housing and the care and support provided in Extra Care housing and as a result it has been identified that the above aims can be achieved through working collaboratively to develop and implement a new model of service and procurement processes.  Extra Care Housing has been identified as a model which helps people to live independently at home for longer, thereby either delaying or preventing the need for long-term residential care and helps people to remain well, therefore avoiding Hospital admissions.

 

 

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

 

The following option was considered and rejected;

 

1.               Maintaining the Status Quo – this was not considered a viable option as the current mechanism for the procurement of care and support services in Extra Care housing in Sefton does not encompass any collaborative working and as result, Sefton (as with Knowsley and Liverpool) are unable to benefit from the collective buying power that the proposed approach encompasses in that the three authorities will be able to better shape the overall market and encourage more innovation and higher quality from providers.  In addition, feedback from Providers indicates that the proposed approach to jointly procure services is viewed by them as being more efficient in that it 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 and model of service which can be adapted in order to ensure that services in Sefton can be tailored to the specific needs of the communities it serves.

 

 

Supporting documents: