Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health

The Cabinet considered the report of the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health that updated on work that had taken place regarding the Domiciliary Care sector since the last report to the Cabinet in December 2021 and seeking approval on a specific procurement exercise to establish a new Sefton Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS) for the future commissioning of domiciliary care services in Sefton.

Decision Made:

That

(1)      the commencement of a procurement exercise to establish a new Sefton only Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS) for domiciliary care services, be established for up to, and not more than, a ten-year period, commencing in April 2023; and all contracted spend on domiciliary care is in scope of the Cabinet report;

(2)      decisions on the rules of the new PDPS, including the workforce strategy, specification, quality and cost threshold, initial procurement, tender evaluation process direct awards throughout the life of the new PDPS to deal with any specific additional service delivery requirements, be delegated to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care;

(3)      decisions on any new Provider contract model, contractual terms and conditions, service delivery arrangements (including service specification and geographical contracted areas) and payment arrangements (including fee rates paid for services, including any enhanced rates for certain geographical areas) to be applied to the above procurement exercise and throughout the life of the new PDPS, be delegated to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care and the Executive Director of Corporate Resources and Customer Services, subject to adhering to the required budgetary approval processes;

(4)      delegated authority be given the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care to award contracts under this new PDPS to Providers, based on the contract model agreed, which may include the awarding of Lead Provider contracts and SPOT Provider contracts, including at the commencement of the new PDPS the direct award of contracts to Providers contracted under the current PDPS for Domiciliary Care services;

(5)      throughout the life of the new PDPS delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care to make decisions on the implementation of any permitted extension periods to contracts initially awarded;

(6)      throughout the life of the new PDPS delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care to make decisions on periodic re-opening exercises of the PDPS, to attract new Provider applications onto it, and to then make decisions on the awarding of contracts and any subsequent permitted extensions within them, to successful new applicants; and

(7)      throughout the life of the new PDPS delegated authority be given to the Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Health in consultation with the Cabinet Member – Adult Social Care to make decisions on any amendments to its operation, to ensure that such decisions can be implemented in a timely manner and ensure that the PDPS is able to operate in a flexible way which addresses any emerging issues and supports wider work such as the further integration of Health and Children’s Services with Adult Social Care.

Reasons for the Decision:

To ensure that commissioning arrangements for the provision of Domiciliary Care within Sefton are directed by Sefton, to meet its demographic requirements, are in place to meet the assessed needs of Sefton’s residents, so that future decisions on commissioning and market management can be made in a timely manner and to put in place new contractual and service delivery arrangements which both seek to ensure market sustainability and reduced disruption to Service Users.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected:

1.       Maintaining the status quo – This was not considered a viable option due to identification of the need to establish new purchasing arrangements in Sefton for the commissioning of Domiciliary Care needs, which reflect the needs of Sefton residents and meets Sefton’s demographic requirements aligned to enabling market sustainability and sufficiency.

2.       Establishing a new local PDPS which would encompass all current contracts being put out for re-tender – This option was considered and rejected as it was identified that where applicable, should existing contracted Providers meet the requirements for the new local PDPS, then Sefton should have the ability make direct awards of contracts to such Providers as this will ensure reduced market disruption and widescale disruption for Service Users and Provider Staff.