Agenda item

(To receive a report by David Stacey (Programme Manager, Strategy and Performance) and Alex Craig (Commercial and Procurement Manager – People Services) which invites the Committee to consider a report on Local Healthwatch Procurement, which is due to be decided by the Executive Councillor between 1^st to 7^th June.  The views of the Committee will be reported to the Executive Councillor, as part of her consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report which invited the Adult and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to consider a report on Local Healthwatch Procurement, which was due to be determined by the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison and Community Engagement between 1 and 7 June 2018.

It was reported that the Council's existing grant agreement for Local Healthwatch Services in Lincolnshire had been in place for five years.  The report gave an update on Local Healthwatch Services, the proposed re-commissioning and sought approval to proceed with the re-procurement of this service on a grant agreement basis.

Members were informed that giving people a greater say in how the health and care system worked was a central pillar of the coalition Government's ambition and a key component of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.  To achieve this, the government had outlined a framework for a network of local Healthwatch organisations with the aim of creating a credible, representative and influential public voice in the system.  Local authorities with adult social care responsibilities were required, under the Act, to commission a local Healthwatch service covering the local authority area.  The Act also made provision for contractual arrangements between local authorities and their local Healthwatch organisation, however, it did allow flexibility for councils to choose the commissioning route that offered the best value for money in their communities.

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was confirmed that the grant was currently £300,000, and it was queried whether funding was also available from other sources.

·         It was noted that a separate trading arm had been set up, which could generate additional work and therefore additional income.  It had been specified that the Council would want to investigate this aspect further.

·         It was noted that unless an activity was covered under the grant agreement, it was asked that any additional activities be funded from other sources.

·         In terms of opening this up for competition, it was noted that there were six possible providers.  It was considered positive that there were six potential providers as it was a very bespoke service.

·         In relation to the potential for cost pressures, it was noted that there was acceptance that the current provider was able to deliver the core functions with the existing level of funding.

·         It was clarified that the Healthwatch service was only able to advise, however they could present their recommendations and the commissioners were duty bound to respond to any recommendations.

·         It was noted that there was a Healthwatch Lincolnshire website which received approximately 50,000 hits per year.  There were also around 12,000 reactive contacts per year.  However, there were also a number of pro-active contacts from events held within communities.

·         It was noted that whichever organisation was selected to operate the service, they would use the Healthwatch branding including the logo, and any other Intellectual Property relating to discharging the Local Healthwatch function which would be adopted.

·         It was requested whether there could be some assurance that due diligence work would be carried out on the financial viability of potential providers.  Members were advised that questions on these core areas would form part of the basic process.

·         In terms of the funding which was provided, it was noted that £192,000 came from central government which was calculated with a central methodology, which was why some areas received more funding than others.  Local authorities would then top up the funding.  It was queried what would happen if the funding formula changed, but the organisation had budgeted to spend £300,000 and how any gap in funding could be budgeted.  It was noted that if the government grant was reduced to such a point where it was unsustainable, the authority would work with the provider to understand what the absolute minimum in terms of statutory requirements was.

·         It was queried why this procurement did not fall into open legislation.  Members were advised that there was a grey area between contracts and grants.  However, the proposal had been through legal services and had been confirmed that it would be a grant.

·         It was queried whether there would be anything in the specification which would give benefit to local bodies.  It was noted that it would be clear that the operation would need to be delivered from within the boundaries of Lincolnshire.  Part of the assessment would also rely on a provider's ability to provide local knowledge.

·         The organisation would have the right to choose what it investigated, but there would be governance around how it made that decision.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee support the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for NHS Liaison and Community Engagement as set out in the report.

2.    That the comments of the Committee be presented to the Executive Councillor for consideration.