Issue - meetings

The County Council has a statutory duty to provide suitable alternativeaccommodation for children that become Looked After either under Section 20 or 31 of the Children Act 1989. These placements  include approved Foster Placements or with Residential Care. These placements will be provided within the Council’s own in-house resources or via the Independent Sector.

As part of this provision Surrey County Council (SCC) has a block contract for 20 placements with Hillcrest Care Services Ltd (Hillcrest). This provider is an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) providing independent foster carers. Last year Cabinet Member approval was given to extend this Block Contract with Hillcrest for a further year until 31 March 2014.

In 2013 Procurement and Commissioning reviewed the contract with Hillcrest and assessed the options regarding future delivery (beyond March 2014). Thorough review of the contract as well as future commissioning intentions resulted in a recommendation that a new 3-year contract is awarded to Hillcrest. Details of the options analysis are contained in Sections 16 to 20 of this report.

This report details the reasons why Surrey County Council wishes to award a new contract to Hillcrest. An annex containing exempt financial information is contained in Part 2 of the agenda (item no.19)

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

That a new contract be awarded to Hillcrest for three years from 1 April 2014 until 31 March 2017.

Reasons for Decisions:

Surrey County Council commissions its other IFA requirements through a Regional Framework Contract with 11 South East Local Authorities. This requirement was tendered in 2011/12. The Framework Contract started on 1 April 2012 and is due to end on 31 March 2017.

Under the Block Contract with Hillcrest, SCC pays one of the lowest rates for IFA placements in the South East of England. The Council is seeking to continue this best value arrangement until the Regional IFA Framework contract comes to an end. An award of a 3-year contract to Hillcrest will mean that both contractual arrangements for IFA placements will be aligned. This will allow a full option analysis to be carried out with Children’s Services and Children’s Commissioning and development of the placement strategy for the entire area of Looked After Children services.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee]

In presenting this report, the Cabinet Member for Children and Families said that the County Council had a statutory duty to provide suitable alternative accommodation for children that become Looked After either under Section 20 or 31 of the Children Act 1989 and as part of this provision Surrey County Council (SCC) had a block contract for 20 placements with Hillcrest Care Services Ltd (Hillcrest).

In 2013 Procurement and Commissioning reviewed the contract with Hillcrest and assessed the options regarding future delivery (beyond March 2014). Thorough review of the contract as well as future commissioning intentions resulted in a recommendation that a new 3-year contract was awarded to Hillcrest because this was the best option and there would be no disruption to children receiving this care.

Finally, she drew attention to the comprehensive Equalities Impact Assessment attached to the report.

RESOLVED:

That a new contract be awarded to Hillcrest for three years from 1 April 2014 until 31 March 2017.

Reasons for Decisions:

Surrey County Council commissions its other IFA requirements through a Regional Framework Contract with 11 South East Local Authorities. This requirement was tendered in 2011/12. The Framework Contract started on 1 April 2012 and is due to end on 31 March 2017.

Under the Block Contract with Hillcrest, SCC pays one of the lowest rates for IFA placements in the South East of England. The Council is seeking to continue this best value arrangement until the Regional IFA Framework contract comes to an end. An award of a 3-year contract to Hillcrest will mean that both contractual arrangements for IFA placements will be aligned. This will allow a full option analysis to be carried out with Children’s Services and Children’s Commissioning and development of the placement strategy for the entire area of Looked After Children services.