Agenda item

1.  That the good progress on the delivery of the Adult Social Care transformation programme and the planned phase 2 be noted.

2.  That the procurement of external support to deliver phase 2 of the Adult Social Care transformation programme be approved.

3.  That the direct award of a new six month contract to Peopletoo Limited to provide this support for phase 2 of the Adult Social Care transformation programme at a cost of £215,000 be approved; and delegated authority be given to the Executive Director for People (Adults), following consultation with the Lead Member for Social Care and Public Health, to commence formal procedures to procure the contract with Peopletoo Limited.

4.  That the Cabinet receive a further report in February or March 2022 on the future procurement arrangements.

5.  That Lead Members receive an update on the status of contracts due to be tendered in 2021/22 as listed in the report to Cabinet of 12^th April 2021.

The Lead Member for Social Care & Public Health and the Executive Director, People (Adults) introduced a report that updated the Cabinet on the Adult Social Care transformation programme and sought approval to procure external support to ensure the delivery of phase 2.  The Cabinet was recommended to approve the direct award of a new six month contract to Peopletoo Limited at a cost of £215,000 with the possibility of a six month extension for an expected maximum total of £450,000.  The Executive Director explained the tasks that Peopletoo were undertaking to help to Council identify and deliver the savings programmes.

It was noted that Peopletoo had been engaged to support phase 1 of the transformation programme with a contract in place between March 2021 to September 2021.  Since 1^st October 2021 the Council had been operating under an implied arrangement with Peopletoo and the recommendations sought to formalise that agreement to March 2022 with the possibility of a further 6 month extension.  The Lead Member expressed disappointment that the report was being presented to Cabinet after the expiry of the previous contract with Peopletoo and emphasised the importance of due process being followed.  The Commissioners comments also highlighted that it was unacceptable that contract standing orders had not been complied with and was an example of the fundamental change to culture and process that was required across the Council.  Mr Caller addressed the Cabinet to reinforce these points and highlighted the importance of a proper procurement exercise with the key deliverables clearly set out.

The Executive Director commented that there were some other contracts in adult services that would be coming to Cabinet to be formalised and explained the main reason the situation had occurred was due to the significant workload pressures in adult social care.  As this was not the only contract in such a position Lead Members requested that an update on the status of contracts due to be tendered in 2021/22 as listed in the report to Cabinet of 12^th April 2021 be provided.  It was confirmed that a review of contracts was underway.

Lead Members asked a number of questions about the process, the role of Peopletoo, value for money and the levels of savings being delivered by the transformation programme.  The Executive Director highlighted that the programme aimed to deliver in excess of £9m of savings across three years to 2024.  The quality of support Peopletoo had been providing was excellent and the Council did not currently have the internal capacity or expertise without the external support.  Lead Members accepted the need for suitable support to deliver the savings, but commented that building up the internal capacity and skills should be a future priority.

After due consideration, the Cabinet agreed that it was important the necessary support was in place to support the continued delivery of savings through the adult social care transformation programme, therefore the recommended six-month extension to March 2022 was approved.  Instead of agreeing the further six month extension beyond March 2022 via delegated authority, the Cabinet agreed to receive a further report on the future procurement in Spring 2022 with a report that set out the expected deliverables of any such contract.

Resolved –

(a)  That the good progress on the delivery of the Adult Social Care transformation programme and the planned phase 2 be noted.

(b)  That the procurement of external support to deliver phase 2 of the Adult Social Care transformation programme be approved.

(c)  That the direct award of a new six month contract to Peopletoo Limited to provide this support for phase 2 of the Adult Social Care transformation programme at a cost of £215,000 be approved; and delegated authority be given to the Executive Director for People (Adults), following consultation with the Lead Member for Social Care and Public Health, to commence formal procedures to procure the contract with Peopletoo Limited.

(d)  That the Cabinet receive a further report in Spring 2022 on the future procurement arrangements.

(Having declared an interest in the next item of business, Councillor Carter left the meeting at this point.)