Agenda item

1.         That the re-commissioning of the wider short breaks offer be brought forward and the Council work closely with children and families to co-produce a new local offer for short breaks so that new contracts start on 4 September 2017 and existing contracts are terminated on 3 September 2017.

2.         That the Council work with current and potential new providers to develop the market for short breaks to improve range of services, value for money, focus on outcomes and address the current gaps highlighted in the report.

3.         That a contract with Surrey and Borders Partnership (SABP) for specialist short breaks at Beeches to 3 September 2017 be approved.

Reasons for Decisions:

Having conducted a thorough assessment of need, it is clear that disabled children and families would benefit from a greater range of short breaks provision, and there is a need to address the gaps that exist in provision. This will require work to develop the market, working with families and current and potential new providers. The next commissioning cycle is currently planned for contracts to commence on 1 April 2018. This commissioning cycle should be completed earlier in order to improve the offer for children and families and increase value for money. However, there needs to be sufficient time to co-design the new offer with families and to develop the market. It is therefore recommended that the wider short breaks offer is re-commissioned from 4 September 2017, with current contracts, grants and service level agreements ending on 3 September 2017.

In the meantime, it is recommended that provision at Beeches be retained during this process and then included in the recommissioning cycle with the wider short breaks provision as set out above.

[The decision on this item may be called in by the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board]

The Cabinet Member for Children and Families Wellbeing was pleased to bring this report to Cabinet. She said that this report set out a proposed earlier re-commissioning of short breaks for disabled children and their families in Surrey, which would support the Council’s strategic goal of promoting wellbeing.

She said it addressed the recommendations agreed by Cabinet on 27 October 2015 for an assessment of need and capacity to inform future commissioning, including provision at Beeches and officers had worked together with families to produce this over-arching review and that the report was a ‘co-production’ with Family Voice.

This report highlighted some unmet need, variation in cost and degree of focus on outcomes with a recommendation for an integrated approach to the re-commissioning of the wider short breaks offer county-wide. She informed Cabinet that the re-commissioning would be integrated with SEND 2020 and the Early Help offer, enabling more disabled children’s needs to be met earlier in future, which would enable the Council’s restricted resources to go further, reaching a wider range of children rather than a few, and supporting more disabled children to achieve improved outcomes. She also drew attention to the needs analysis, the highlights of which were set out in the report, and included equality and value for money implications.

Finally, she said that she, and the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement had met representatives from Family Voice last Friday and she read out their statement. She also publically thanked the officer team who had worked on this review.

The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement confirmed her support for the recommendations and the work undertaken by the service. She said that this Council was a high spending Local Authority in this area and stressed the importance of effective use of resources.

Other Members of the Cabinet considered that the Council had listened to parental concerns and that this strategic approach was the right way forward. The SEND 2020 programme for change, attached as Annex 1 to the submitted report, was highlighted and confirmation was also given that an Equality Impact Assessment had been completed on the proposed options.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the re-commissioning of the wider short breaks offer be brought forward and the Council work closely with children and families to co-produce a new local offer for short breaks so that new contracts start on 4 September 2017 and existing contracts are terminated on 3 September 2017.

2.         That the Council work with current and potential new providers to develop the market for short breaks to improve the range of services, value for money, focus on outcomes and address the current gaps highlighted in the report.

3.         That a contract with Surrey and Borders Partnership (SABP) for specialist short breaks at Beeches to 3 September 2017 be approved.

Reasons for Decisions:

Having conducted a thorough assessment of need, it is clear that disabled children and families would benefit from a greater range of short breaks provision, and there is a need to address the gaps that exist in provision. This will require work to develop the market, working with families and current and potential new providers. The next commissioning cycle is currently planned for contracts to commence on 1 April 2018. This commissioning cycle should be completed earlier in order to improve the offer for children and families and increase value for money. However, there needs to be sufficient time to co-design the new offer with families and to develop the market. It is therefore recommended that the wider short breaks offer is re-commissioned from 4 September 2017, with current contracts, grants and service level agreements ending on 3 September 2017.

In the meantime, it is recommended that provision at Beeches be retained during this process and then included in the re-commissioning cycle with the wider short breaks provision as set out above.

[Note: Mrs Curran left the meeting after this item because of a family emergency]