Finance and Investment

APPENDIX A

FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

REVIEWING FRAMEWORK

AUGUST 2016

SOCIAL CARE

1. INTRODUCTION

The Council has a responsibility to ensure that services under contract are monitored and reviewed. This is to ensure that public monies are utilised appropriately and to safeguard the interests of the Council. Contracts may be monitored and reviewed in a variety of ways and this procedure outlines the method against financial values and risk. This framework is restricted to planned reviews and reviews may be initiated at any time.

Good Contract Management is active and dynamic; ensuring the council can manage change and aim for continuous improvement. It helps the council to identify and manage our own and the suppliers’ commercial risks, within a collaborative and professional relationship. In short, good Contract Management helps councils to maximise savings and service quality.

1. REVIEWING RATIONALE

Contracts are to be reviewed using a price x risk calculation. The emphasis is on more pro-active contract monitoring for expensive services with the most vulnerable service users. For example, during the period of 2015 there were 577 adult protection alerts concerning care homes. The residents of these homes are extremely vulnerable and as the homes are dealing with their holistic health needs then this increases the potential for error in the management of their care needs. Under this framework care homes will be subject to more rigorous service reviews. The intention is that as commissioning moves more towards outcome based contracts that the emphasis will move towards validating data. In house services will also fall within the reviewing rationale to ensure that services are monitored and reviewed consistently whether they are in house or provided by the independent sector.

Price

There are currently a number of financial thresholds which determine the procurement method for the supply of goods, materials and services. These thresholds relate to the contract value over the contract term, but for the purpose of this procedure will relate to price per annum. An extra level of £1,000,000 is included as this will cover the largest services, ie care homes. Each contract will be allocated a number of points in relation to contract value in accordance with the following:

Number of points / Contract value (per annum)
5 / Up to £9,999
10 / £10,000 to £39,999
15 / £40,000 to £109,999
20 / £110,000 to £139,999
25 / £140,000 to £999,999
30 / £1,000,000+

Risk

Risk is divided into the perceived level of risk to service users and the Council if the service is not provided. Risk is defined as follows:

• Low risk covers preventative services, day services and the provision of goods. If the service is not provided then over time there may be a risk to service users. Corporate services also fall in to this category.

• Medium risk services such as housing related support services. Service users do not require 24 hour care, but if the service was not provided then there is an increased risk of decline in service users’ health and possible admission to a care home.
• A high risk service is one where if the service is not provided there is a serious risk of harm to service users. Service providers are the main source of provision of personal care tasks and 24 hour care is provided. If the service is not provided and service users are isolated then serious injury or rapidly declining health / death can occur.

Number of points / Level of Risk
10 / Low
20 / Medium
30 / High

Bands

Band is determined by the number of points for price multiplied by number of points for risk.

Points / Band / Monitoring and review method / Examples
0-159 / D / No formal service review, though responsible Commissioning Officer willdetermine future actions in relation to procurement options. / services identified.
Teesside Society for the Blind,
Housing related support contracts under £9,999 per annum
Independent Visitors (Children’s)
NYAS Regulation 44 visits to in-house children’s services
Advocacy services under £9,999 per annum
160-259 / C / Desktop review will occur annually and a full review involving a site visit will occur 6-9 months prior to the contract expiring. / services identified
Advocacy servicesfrom £9,999 to £106,999 per annum.
Missing from Home
Learning disabilities and complex needs day service
Adoption Support
Housing related support from £9,999 to £106,999 per annum.
Young Carers
260-599 / B / Themed review to occur on an annual basis with a full review involving a site visit in the first and last year of the contract. / services identified.
Housing related support contracts over £109,999 per annum.
Enablement and support providers within supported living schemes
600+ / A / Full review including a site visit when review score is connected to weekly cost or a themed review to occur on an annual basis. Themes will be determined by the Contract Team leader. / services identified.
Residential Care Homes
Domiciliary Care
Independent Fostering Agencies

If a service is subject to safeguarding concerns then services may be re-classified as Band Aand monitored more frequently until the service has improved to the standards required.

EXCEPTIONS

There are a number of services that are exempt from the reviewing system.

Social work services commissioned from other local authorities

Social work statutory services, the providing authorities are responsible for closely managing these services. If they are not managed properly then there would be substantial risk to the providing authority and to service users. If necessary, operational staff will be responsible for arranging and attending regular partnership meetings though will involve the commissioning leads when necessary.

Out of area services

In all cases the lead commissioner will be responsible for contacting the host authority to determine when the service was last reviewed and to get a copy of any report completed.

STAGES OF REVIEW

The content and intensity of reviews will be determined by the bands that contracts have been allocated to.

The reviewing framework requires effective systems to be in place to encourage and analyse concerns that are raised from health and social care professionals and the general public.

The following elements are common to the different bands.

Elements of Monitoring / Review / A / B / C / D
Stakeholders asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the quality of the service / √ / √ / √
For block contracts monitoring returns submitted and examined: / Commissioning Lead to arrange and attend quarterly meetings with the Provider. / √ / √ / √
Monitoring returns analysed by CMOs / √ / √ / √ / √
Service users asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the quality of the service. Consideration will be given to supporting service users to complete these face-to-face where appropriate with CMO’s / √ / √ / √
Contract value analysis and benchmarking against similar services will be completed by the commissioning lead in relation to future procurement options of the contract. / √ / √ / √ / √
Site visit / Unspecified review during the life of the contract / √
Themed review annually / √ / √
Full review annually / √

Band D

No formal service review, though responsible Commissioning Officer will determine future actions in relation to procurement options. The Service will submit monitoring returns to be examined.

Band C

Desktop review will occur annually and a full review will occur 6-9 months prior to the contract expiring involving a site visit. The purpose of this will be to ensure that the service is being provided as expected. In addition there will be a full review which will normally occur at least 9 months before the contract expiry date. This will allow adequate time to commission replacement services, the final review report will assist whendetermining future commissioning options.

Band B

The first review of a new commissioned service will normally include a review against any contractual quality standards, this would occur after the first 6 months of the contract commencing. Subsequent reviews will be themed reviews that will occur on an annual basis with a full review involving a site visit in the first and last year of the contract. If the results of a themed review trigger a number of concerns then there will be the option to investigate the service in further detail.

Band A

These are normally residential care home services. Reviews in the first year of a new home will be a full review against all quality standards for that particular service.After this Care homes will be subject to annual unannounced themed reviews concentrating on care and support documentation themes, Adult/Child protection issues or any concerns or weaknesses from previous reviews. Services subject to the quality reviews where the review scores go towards the cost of the service will be subject to a full review completed annually.

The Service Review

Once the method of review has been identified the responsible officer will complete the review in conjunction with the Finance & Investment Protocol for Completing Service Reviews.

CORPORATE & SERVICE AREA CONTRACTS

Introduction;

Commissioners and Contract Managers have ultimate responsibility for the delivery of contracts and development of supplier relationships, but Corporate Procurement will provide support, advice and guidance throughout the process

Corporate contracts are contracts that are procured by the commissioning unit that can be utilised across the Council i.e stationary, protective clothing etc.

Service area contracts are contracts that are procured in collaboration with the commissioning team that are service specific i.e Waste recycling, street lighting, and Leisure management.

Contract Management;

Contract Management can be defined as:

“A process that ensures that the contract produces the outcomes and benefits envisaged, and that any financial or other advantage secured during the procurement process is realised and enhanced through proactive performance and relationship management.”

Joint working with the responsible Commissioner and Officer within Corporate Procurement to assess the need and level of contract management is required at the pre-procurement for all contracts. This is to ensure the correct level of Contract Management is considered and agreed from the outset with the Commissioner.

The Commissioner ensures the overall contract obligations, objectives and expectations are being met.

The Commissioner will meet with the Supplier as agreed in the contract, and look to ensure all contract deliverables are achieved to the required standard, and on time and within budget.

The responsible officer should be appointed before the award of the contract, ideally at the preparation stage of the procurement (prior to advertising) so they can be involved throughout the procurement process.

Monitoring contracts will help provide qualitative observations and data on how well they are being provided and whether desired service outcomes are being achieved. It can also provide value for money information linked to unit costing and value for money being achieved.

Monitoring aims to provide a structured, standardised efficient approach for gathering qualitative and quantitative data about the services, consultancy or work(s) we have commissioned. This will be used to inform any decisions on monitoring actions related to contract compliance and for contributing to an improvement of the quality of services for people in Middlesbrough.

Corporate and Service Area Contracts are managed by a nominated lead officer. The officer should arrange a pre contract start meeting & then as a minimum quarterly contract management meetings with minutes and actions documented.

There are three methods used by the Contract Management Team for the monitoring of Social Care contracts which can also be used by Officers monitoring corporate contracts, which are:

An optional appraisal report should be sent to the Procurement Manager/Team Leader 9 months prior to the contract expiry date.

• Self-Assessment Monitoring

This is a self-assessment form and is used for gathering qualitative information regarding contract compliance. The reporting frequency is annually(or more frequently depending on performance level). The provider should complete the self-assessment and submit it to Middlesbrough Council by a specified deadline.

• Contract Monitoring Review

This is to review information regarding the contract specification, quality of service provided, capacity, staffing levels and to clarify value for money. The reporting frequency is annually. Contract monitoring may be done on-site, or it may be done as part of a desk review, but most likely monitoring will be achieved using a combination of these two techniques. To the extent on-site reviews are employed, the officer may choose to make the site visits on either an announced or unannounced basis. When visits are announced or pre-scheduled, the officer will have a set time at which the facility will be visited. Unannounced visits are performed on a surprise basis and are intended to give the Council assurance that observations made during announced visits are representative of the provider’s on-going operating practices.

• Quarterly Contract Monitoring

Used to gather specific information regarding the contracted service, service provided, capacity and staffing levels. The reporting frequency is quarterly.The service provider should complete and submit performance related data to Middlesbrough Council before the deadline specified.Commissioning Officers will meet with the service provider every 3 months to discuss contract compliance and any data submitted.

From the three methods used we would generally see Outcome areas utilising the Quarterly Contract Monitoring which we would recommend should be a formal meeting, which should include a standard agenda, robust notes/minutes, detailed action plan with agreed timescales.

Officers with a contractual service should always have a copy of the contract electronically in order to ensure they fully understand the Council and providers contractual responsibilities.

EXCEPTIONS

There are a number of services that are exempt from the reviewing system.

Works or Construction procurements are generally specialist areas and will likely be linked to Capital Grant, which will normally have a Project Plan in place for monitoring and review.

As these procurements will fall within the service area and as Project Management for Capital grant is becoming embedded they will sit outside of the reviewing process.

USE of NEPO PORTAL for CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

The Council uses the North Eastern Procurement Organisation (NEPO) Portal system to store the essential contract primary documents securely in a single accessible place including:

•Specifications

•Terms and conditions

•Submission details of the winning bidder(s)

•Recorded dialogue

•Clarifications and post contract award documentation, such as the final executed contract agreement, Contract Management plan and any supporting documentation such as TUPE, transitional action plan, performance reports, variation details etc

6.2The Contract Management module of the NEPO Portal will be populated and maintained by Corporate Procurement, with appropriate access granted to relevant parties, such as the Contract Manager, Contract Administrators and Suppliers (as appropriate).

6.3The module will allow public and private documents to be uploaded, including prepared templates (as contained within the appendices of this framework), and will enable suppliers to update KPI’s and submit price increases for approval.

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