Agenda item

(To consider a report from Sophie Reeve, Assistant Director, Commercial, on the Draft One Council Commissioning Framework 2021-2024, which is being presented to the Executive on 7 April 2021. The views of the Board will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item)

Consideration was given to a report from the Assistant Director, Commercial -on the Draft One Council Commissioning Framework 2021-2024, which was being presented to the Executive on 7 April 2021. The views of the Board would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.

The Board was asked to consider the report and to determine whether it supported the recommendation to the Executive which was to approve the One Council Commissioning Framework, as set out in Appendix A of the report. The Framework had been developed following extensive engagement with officers across the Council and feedback from the Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) and senior members.

The report proposed that the Council had an opportunity to set out its ambition for commissioning, enabling the fulfilment of the expectations of communities through delivering the Corporate Plan. The One Council Commissioning Framework outlined the Council's definition of commissioning and the vision, aim and principles. The report outlined the principles which would underpin the commissioning processes and what was meant by commissioning.

Members discussed the report, and during the discussion the following points were noted:

·         Current commissioning activity of other Local Authorities had been examined. The Local Authorities had been chosen because they had recently reviewed their approach to commissioning and were Croydon Council; Kingston Council; Buckinghamshire County Council; Birmingham City Council; and Gateshead Council. Of the Local Authorities contacted, all five were still using the commissioning cycle; all of these were keen to be evidence based, such as having data to inform decision making and, where appropriate, consultation with service recipients and providers. Some had focused on a commercial approach to commissioning, particularly in relation to contract management and skilling up officers to carry out commissioning effectively. Consideration was also given to the right balance of contract enforcement and contract development with key suppliers.

·         Developing skills for the workforce was work in progress. Part of the proposal included the creation of a Commissioning Hub with a small additional resource. The Commissioning Hub would carry out an analysis of skills required to produce effective commissioning. This would result in some development and training that could be implemented across the Council. Identifying existing skills within the Council would be undertaken at a later date, as the focus first was on identifying the skills and expertise that were necessary for delivering the new commissioning framework.

·         In relation to the six principles in the commissioning framework there was no hierarchy with regards to priority. A commissioning wheel would be used to identify all the tasks that would form part of the commissioning process and reflect the principles. Tasks would also reflect that commissioning had to take into account budget and policy frameworks for example as well as any statutory requirements. As a result, the six principles might be constrained at times depending on certain circumstances.

·         The Board was pleased to see the focus on working with residents. Central to the development of the commissioning tasks would be a needs analysis of Lincolnshire’s residents and communities which would rely on national and local data sets and consultation as appropriate, in conjunction with information from the contract management function where those services were delivered directly to residents. This would ensure that appropriate services were identified to meet those needs.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Committee support the recommendation to the Executive, as set out in Appendix A of the report;

2.    That a summary of the comments made be passed on to the Executive in relation to this item.