Agenda item

(To receive a report by Alex Craig, Commercial and Procurement Manager – People Services, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider the case for re-commissioning the existing homecare contracts prior to consideration by the Executive on 4 February 2020)

The Committee received a report which invited members to consider the case for re-commissioning the existing homecare contracts on a broadly similar model however with a small number of significant changes to how the service functioned. It was reported that the Council currently commissioned twelve zone based contracts to deliver Homecare across the County.  These arrangements were due to come to an end on 30 June 2020.

Members were guided through the report and were 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 commented that the paper was excellent and the changes to allow extra time for personal care calls and time for travel were welcomed and demonstrated initiative in terms of how the authority was trying to tackle some of the rurality issues in delivering homecare.

·         It was encouraging to see engagement with both providers and service users.

·         It was noted that turnover of staff was one of the major problems for providers.  It was acknowledged that making social care an attractive proposition as a job was a challenge, and there were a number of initiatives to encourage retention.  The nature of what the job entailed meant that pay wasn't always a driving force in encouraging people into these roles.  The offer from organisations was critical (training etc.), and retention was monitored closely, along with the staff turnover rate as it gave an indication of quality.

·         It was clarified that the extra rural rate was an enhanced rate.  The Authority would make the decision on whether this rate should be applied based on the location of the calls and the number of calls in that area.  It was possible to see where it was more challenging to commission care.

·         It was suggested that there was a need to promote more courses that would encourage people into social care work.  Linca (Lincolnshire Association of Carers) was a strategic partner of the Council and they had a range of programmes and skills for care work, however, it was mainly care workers that accessed these courses.  There was a need for the development of a career path nationally as it could be difficult for home care workers to gain these qualifications.

·         There was also community learning available, which focused on people who had not had a job, or had stopped working due to family circumstances.

·         It was commented that there was a stigma attached to this type of work, and it was felt that the importance of the role was not highlighted enough, and there were many other opportunities which could come from this experience.

·         Nationally and locally Linca and the County Council had been leaders in the Nursing Associate Programme.  There was a need to look at what could to give people a different role and how to make this work a viable and attractive option.

·         It was commented that things were moving forward in a positive way, and being a carer was a vocation rather than 'just a job'.

·         Carers would have their fitness assessed for a range of factors including moving and handling.  Every home care provider was contract managed on a monthly basis, and spot checks would be carried out on different areas, such as training of carers.  It was highlighted that carers would not be asked to lift people, in cases where people may need that type of assistance, an occupational therapist would attend to assess their needs.

·         There was a need to raise the status of carers, but it was difficult to make people realise that they did a valuable job.

·         It was confirmed that the additional rural rate was a supplementary payment, and anything that would raise the profile of the sector was positive.

·         One member commented that she had attended some of the events that were held to celebrate the work of carers and had found that approximately 90% of the people she spoke to said they loved their job.

·         Where a call was relating to personal care, it was important that a person was assessed according to their needs.

·         In terms of procurement, the UK law had the same requirements European Union law, but there was also Social Care law to take into account, and aspects of that meant that some of the normal steps did not need to be followed.

·         It was queried whether there would be a cost to the authority for the increase in the national minimum wage.  Members were advised that that the budget did take into account thing such as this increase.  The market was very supportive and responded well.  It was noted that the government compensated councils for this increase by introducing the adult social care council tax precept.  The challenge was that the precept did not apply equally across the country.  Lincolnshire was somewhere in the middle in terms of where its precept was set.  It was also an issue that the council tax precept was slightly under the living wage growth, and if it was not factored into future funding it would become a cost pressure.

·         The Committee welcomed this piece of work and acknowledged that the procurement team had worked really hard on this, and had got a good model in place.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Committee supported the recommendations to the Executive as set out in the report.

2.    That the following additional comments be passed to the Executive in relation to this item:

            The Committee recognised the extensive work which had been         undertaken in preparation for this procurement exercise, including the engagement which had taken place both with service users and the       potential providers of these services.  The proposed contract would build on the strengths of the existing contract, and a contract period of            five years, with an option for two further years, was supported. 

            The Committee was pleased to see the proposed contract including a          minimum of thirty minutes for a visit where a service user required            personal care.  The proposed introduction of extra rural rates and a       floating support team was strongly supported, as they would provide             sustainability and resilience for the service.