Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor L A Cawrey, Executive Councillor for Fire & Rescue and Cultural Services.

An apology for absence was also received from Debbie Barnes, Chief Executive.

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

There were no announcements by the Leader, Executive Councillors or Executive Directors.

RESOLVED

          That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 September 2022 be signed as a correct record.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing which seeks authorisation for an exception to the Council’s Contract Regulations to enable the extension of the Council’s Substance Misuse Treatment Contract for a period of 6 months to 31 March 2024)

1.    That the modification of the Substance Misuse Treatment contract to extend its duration by a period of 6 months to 31 March 2024 at a value of £2,524,826 be approved.

2.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health to determine the final form of the modification referred to in paragraph 1.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Social Care and Public Health introduced a report which authorisation for an exception to the Council’s Contract Regulations to enable the extension of the Council’s Substance Misuse Treatment Contract for a period of six months to 31 March 2024.  It was noted that Lincolnshire County Council currently commissioned the delivery of Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Services through contractual arrangements with We Are With You (WAWY), a registered charity, for which contracts were due to end on 30 September 2022.  A re-commissioning programme was underway, but a number of emerging considerations were impacting the effective completion of the programme and as a result, an extension of six months was sought t enable the emerging considerations to be addressed.

The Commercial and Procurement Manager and Consultant in Public Health guided the Executive through the report and explained the commercial considerations, cost implications and current provider performance.  It was highlighted that the cost of the proposed extension was consistent with current costs and budgets and could be funded from the Public Health Grant and so there would be no additional costs as a result of this proposal.

The Chairman of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee presented the comments of the Committee following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 28 September 2022.  The Executive was advised that the Committee supported the proposals in the report.  The Committee welcomed the opportunity to explore collaboration options as part of the Greater Lincolnshire Public Health Pilot.

It was commented that there had been improvements to the contract every time it had been re-procured.

RESOLVED

1.    That the modification of the Substance Misuse Treatment contract to extend its duration by a period of 6 months to 31 March 2024 at a value of £2,524,826 be approved.

2.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health to determine the final form of the modification referred to in paragraph 1.

(To receive a report by the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing which seeks authorisation for an exception to the Council’s Contract Regulations to enable the extension of the Council’s Integrated Sexual Health Services (LISH) contract with LCHS for a period of 12 months to 31 March 2024)

1.    That the modification of the Lincolnshire Sexual Health Service (LISH) contract to extend its duration by a period of 12 months to 31 March 2024 at a cost of £5,370,123 be approved.

2.    That the extension of the Section 75 Agreement between the Council and NHS England relating to HIV treatment (cost of Antiviral medications) until 31 March 2024 be approved.

3.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health, to determine the final form of the modifications referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

The Executive Councillor for Adult Care and Public Health introduced a report which sought authorisation for an exception to the Council’s Contract Regulations to enable the extension of the Council’s Integrated Sexual Health Services (LISH) contract with LCHS for a period of 12 months to 31 March 2024.  It was highlighted that a re-commissioning programme was underway but a number of emerging considerations were impacting the effective completion of the programme, and as a result it was proposed to seek to extend all of the Council’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services contracts for a further 12 month period to maintain the co-terminous alignment of the contracts whilst the emerging considerations were addressed.

The Commercial and Procurement Manager and Consultant in Public Health guided the Executive through the report and explained the commercial considerations, cost implications and current provider performance.  It was highlighted that the providers were supportive of the proposals and the extension did not increase costs beyond those previously set out.

The Chairman of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee presented the comments of the Committee following its consideration of this item at its meeting on 28 September 2022.  The Executive was advised that the Committee had supported the recommendations set out in the report and welcomed the Greater Lincolnshire Public Health pilot.  It was commented that there were some concerns about open access, and there was a need to ensure that open access was maintained, particularly in relation to rurality.

During discussion by the Executive, the following was noted:

·       Members were broadly supportive of the proposal.

·       It was queried how many people were interacting with this service.  Officers advised that this information could be provided after the meeting.

·       Officers reported that, in terms of benchmarking, Lincolnshire’s outcomes were good and the spend was slightly less than average for comparative neighbours.

·       In terms of the current contract, the provider was very good at meeting its KPI’s and demonstrating value for money and had good outcomes for individuals.

·       It was expected that officers would be able to report on progress with the Greater Lincolnshire Public Health pilot in the next month or two. 

·       There were concerns that the report did not contain information in relation to the numbers of people using the service, and it was suggested that this information would be required when the contract was due to be re-procured.

·       It was noted that the service had been disrupted due to Covid-19.

·       Officers would circulate information in relation to numbers of people using the service, after the meeting.

RESOLVED

1.    That the modification of the Lincolnshire Sexual Health Service (LISH) contract to extend its duration by a period of 12 months to 31 March 2024 at a cost of £5,370,123 be approved.

2.    That the extension of the Section 75 Agreement between the Council and NHS England relating to HIV treatment (cost of Antiviral medications) until 31 March 2024 be approved.

3.    That authority be delegated to the Executive Director – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

RESOLVED

          That in accordance with Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that if they were present there ould be a disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

(To receive an exempt report by the Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing which invites the Executive to consider the Market Sustainability and Fair Costs of Care)

That the recommendations as set out in the exempt report be approved.

The Executive Director for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing introduced a report which invited the Executive to consider market sustainability and fair costs of care.

RESOLVED

That the recommendations as set out in the exempt report be approved.