Agenda item

RESOLVED:

That the proposed contract and grant awards for short breaks in Surrey be approved.

Reasons for Decisions:

      I.        The new proposals will enable families of children with SEND to achieve better outcomes from their short breaks, because they have been co-designed with families (supported by Family Voice Surrey) in response to what they told us was most important.

    II.        Current contracts for short breaks services are ending on 30 November 2017 and the Council has statutory duties to provide these services, so we have to secure future provision for families.

   III.        As a result of the legally compliant short breaks tender there will be a 4.5% increase in hours of play and leisure short breaks and these services will be provided more locally.

  IV.        Awarding block contracts and grants for a minimum of three years and four months will give families certainty about the short breaks offer, whilst also securing high-quality provision and value for money for the Council.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Children and Education Select Committee]

The Cabinet Member for Education gave a very detailed introduction to this report that described how high-quality, locally delivered short breaks made a huge difference to over 2,200 children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in Surrey each year. Short breaks enabled children and young people to achieve better outcomes by having fun, seeing their friends and trying new activities, whilst also giving families a much needed break from caring. Alongside this, Surrey County Council (SCC) had a range of statutory duties and responsibilities that it needed to fulfil in relation to short breaks provision.

The report also set out proposed funding awards for a range of short breaks in Surrey, including overnight residential and play and leisure services, and specific grant-funded projects. Acknowledging the vital role played by short breaks, SCC has maintained the budget at £3.1 million, at a time of significant financial challenge.

Due to the commercial sensitivity involved in the contract award process, the names of the providers are listed in this report; however, all financial details and a summary of evaluation scores have been circulated in a Part 2 report as agenda item 17.

It was explained that Surrey County Council (SCC) had a legal duty to review its contracts with providers of short breaks every 3-5 years. This allowed new providers to have the opportunity to bid and which could lead to improved provision coming from new ideas and input.

The council were aware that changes in provision could cause uncertainty and it was recognised that this can be particularly difficult for families of children with special educational needs and disabilities. All parents have to have a high level of trust when they pass their children to the care of another person, but this was particularly so when the child or young person had special needs which may prevent them from speaking or acting for themselves.

Short breaks were closely linked to the SEND 2020 Development Plan through which the development of independence in children and young people was encouraged. Changes can be for the better and, after a settling in period, many families should feel the benefit of the recommissioning which has been done in line with their suggestions following a wide ranging consultation process

She explained what short breaks were and how many people used them and stressed the importance of the role played by short breaks in that the County Council had protected the budget of £3.1 million for short break services in Surrey when many other services are experiencing reduction.

Council officers had worked with families at each stage of the process of recommissioning in order to use the opportunity to respond more fully to their needs. They would also continue to work with families of users of The Beeches to ensure that children settle into new places.  In response to a parent query she stated that if Beeches was to be leased at £0.6m this would need to come out of the £1.3m for the service.  It was important to stick with the financial envelope in order not to detriment others.  It was also stated that if enough of The Beeches users were to transfer to Applewood it would be possible to TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment) Beeches staff to Applewood.

Representatives of Family Voice had worked particularly closely on this project, and the Cabinet Member paid tribute to them for this.  She went on to summarise the process that had been followed and stressed that parents had input at every stage and that the procurement process likewise included council professionals alongside Family Voice and parents of children with SEND.

She highlighted the key benefits of agreeing the recommendations as being:

• an overall increase of 4.5% in hours of play and leisure opportunities;
• fairer distribution of play and leisure short breaks across the county – aligning provision to need- so that these can be provided more locally for more families;
• prioritising of funding for residential short breaks with providers required to appropriately address a range of complex health and behaviour needs, and
• securing quantified commitments from providers to deliver added social value and social capital over and above the Council’s funded offer. This was likely to total around £ 3 million.

It was recognised that there were a small minority of families who felt that the provision they had enjoyed up to now was going to be adversely affected by the proposed new contracts and grant awards.  Some parents were anxious that a change of provider would mean the loss of familiar faces and activities at their child’s play and leisure facility.  Most of those parents had been users of The Beeches specialist residential provision in Reigate which had been operated by Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SBP).  They and their children had been happy with the care provided by Beeches and many had enjoyed the close proximity of The Beeches to Brooklands School.  It was recognised by several members of Cabinet that The Beeches had a particular ambiance that might be difficult to replicate.

However, SBP decided not to bid for funding from SCC to provide overnight specialist short breaks in future.  This meant that 17 families would need access to overnight respite at other settings from 1st December this year.  SBP have also confirmed that they are not looking to dispose of or to lease out the Beeches buildings.  Those affected had been offered opportunities to discuss their future options with Social Workers, Commissioning Officers, herself and the Cabinet Member for children also went to meet them. Many had decided to take up short breaks at Applewood which is SCC run with good quality provision and was closest to The Beeches.

Social workers and officers continue to work with families that are still undecided and anxious about alternative provision.  She explained plans to increase staffing capacity at Applewood and the provision of a Nurse Trainer to ensure staff had the ability to deal with most of the health needs of the children and young people who used to use The Beeches.

In a very small number of cases where the proposed providers at Cherry Trees and White Lodge, plus the SCC provision at Applewood and Ruth House, could not meet the very specific complex health needs of a few children, spot purchasing would be used, as it has been in the past, to source suitable provision.

Mr Chris Botten and Mrs Bernie Muir addressed the Cabinet and made the following points:

·         That numbers needing this kind of service was suppressed.

·         There was a history of suspicion regarding the modelling and in particular the NHS wanting to take funding from them to social services.

·         That parents felt they had to fight every hour of every day to get the right service for their children.

·         There were lessons to be learned and issues to be resolved.

·         That spot placements was not a resilient solution to families with differing needs.

·         That the main concern of residents with autistic children was the transition of moving from current to new services.

The Cabinet Member for Education responded with empathy and stated that an expected increase of 27% in Autistic Spectrum Disorder had been taken into account within the report and that new providers would be ready to take on the more complex users.  She acknowledged that transition was not always easy but that children would not be excluded at the first hurdle and staff would work with them to assist in the transition.

The Cabinet Member for Health stated that she would take questions back to the Health and Wellbeing Board on the statements made by Mr Botten.  She thanked the parents for coming to speak to Cabinet and stated how impressed she had been with the breadth of the consultation even though it didn’t contain provision at The Beeches. 

The Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity reported that assurance would be needed over the life of the contract with good monitoring.  He also reported that he and the Leader were to meet with Surrey MPs to discuss financial concerns.

The Cabinet Member for Education was sure that the service could be provided where needed dependent on funding.  She also explained that a monitoring group was to be set up with Family Voice which would look at not only the contract details but how residents/families felt on the ground.

The resolution was unanimous.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed contract and grant awards for short breaks in Surrey be approved.

Reasons for Decisions:

      I.        The new proposals will enable families of children with SEND to achieve better outcomes from their short breaks, because they have been co-designed with families (supported by Family Voice Surrey) in response to what they told us was most important.

    II.        Current contracts for short breaks services are ending on 30 November 2017 and the Council has statutory duties to provide these services, so we have to secure future provision for families.

   III.        As a result of the legally compliant short breaks tender there will be a 4.5% increase in hours of play and leisure short breaks and these services will be provided more locally.

  IV.        Awarding block contracts and grants for a minimum of three years and four months will give families certainty about the short breaks offer, whilst also securing high-quality provision and value for money for the Council.

Mr Oliver returned to the meeting.