Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Bobby Feeley, Lead Member for Social Care, Adult and Children’s Services (copy enclosed) informing Cabinet about progress regarding Hafan Deg, Dolwen, Cysgod y Gaer and Awelon and seeking members’ agreement to the recommendations made by the Elected Member Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED that Cabinet request Officers to undertake –

 

(a)       a formal tender process with respect to the provision of services at Hafan Deg (Rhyl) with a view to transferring the building to an external organisation, commissioning a day care service within the building and, in addition, enabling 3rd sector agencies to provide early intervention activities for older people that reduce social isolation, support independence and promote resilience;

 

(b)       a formal tender process with respect to the provision of services at Dolwen (Denbigh) with an external organization with a view to transferring the building and the whole service to an external organisation that will register Dolwen to provide elderly mental health (EMH) day and residential care;

 

(c)        that all tender documentation specify requirements to evidence the quality of care and Welsh language provision that would be provided at both establishments, and

 

(d)       that at the conclusion of the tender process the bids are evaluated and analysed for potential impacts by the Task & Finish Group before being presented to Performance Scrutiny and Cabinet with recommendations of the preferred Provider, before appointment, in order to gain Cabinet’s full approval and to achieve the most advantageous outcome.  (Any appointments would be subject to Cabinet being satisfied that the transfer of assets and the planned provision of services at those establishments would be in the best interest of service-users, residents and the Council).

[Councillor Mark Young declared a personal interest in this item in so far as it referred to Dolwen, Denbigh as his father was resident there.]

 

Councillor Bobby Feeley presented the report informing Cabinet of progress to date regarding externalising in house care service provision in respect of Hafan Deg (Rhyl), Dolwen (Denbigh), Cysgod y Gaer (Corwen) and Awelon (Ruthin), and sought members’ agreement to the recommendations made by the Elected Member Task and Finish Group (established to examine the delivery of in-house social care services) and supported by Performance Scrutiny Committee.  She acknowledged the time taken in progressing the proposals and highlighted that Community Support Services had been working tirelessly to ensure the best services that were fit for purpose and sustainable in the future, and to ensure that the process was not called into question.

 

Cabinet was provided with a brief summary of events leading up to the latest report during which the work of the Task and Finish Group and Performance Scrutiny Committee was highlighted together with their recommendations to Cabinet.  Significant progress had been made in respect of Hafan Deg and Dolwen and recommendations had been made to undertake procurement activity in relation to those services.  Exploratory work was still ongoing in relation to proposals for Awelon and Cysgod y Gaer and would be reported back to members in due course.  It was reiterated that the report recommendations had been developed by the Task and Finish Group and scrutinised by Performance Scrutiny Committee prior to submission to Cabinet.

 

The options for Hafan Deg and Dolwen were considered individually as follows –

 

Hafan Deg (Rhyl)

 

Cabinet was positive about the modernisation of provision and believed the proposals to be of benefit of Rhyl residents.  The building was significantly underused at present and it was hoped to expand services and operate it to its full capacity, supporting independence, resilience and reducing social isolation.

 

In response to questions members were advised that –

 

·         in terms of timescale it was anticipated that if Cabinet approved the recommendations tenders would go out in February 2017 and it would take approximately five months for the Task and Finish Group to evaluate and finalise proposals and recommendations to be presented to Performance Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet

·         further work was required to prepare for the tender exercise involving Legal, Asset Management, HR and Procurement to ensure the service specification, contract and lease arrangements were secure and met the Council’s needs – tenders would be analysed through the corporate procurement process and assessed on the basis of which was the most advantageous

·         members noted that there were many positive proposals from potential providers regarding suggestions on future use arising from the engagement event and market testing questionnaire – as part of the tender process some of those ideas would be included in the service specification and potential providers would be asked to expand on those suggestions and provide costing to enable more detailed evaluation and analysis

·         there were no Rhyl members present at the meeting but it was noted that the Chair of the Task and Finish Group was a Rhyl member and there was at least one Rhyl member on Performance Scrutiny Committee

·         any transfer of the building would be subject to proper legal agreement with appropriate terms in order to protect the Council’s interests and service provision.

 

Dolwen (Denbigh)

 

Cabinet was advised that the same timescale would apply to Dolwen with tenders going out in February 2017.  Tender bids would be evaluated and analysed by the Task and Finish Group prior to their recommendations on future service provision being presented to Performance Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet.

 

Councillor Gwyneth Kensler was disappointed to note that only one provider had attended the engagement event and felt that more work needed to be done.  She emphasised the importance of Dolwen within the local community and as such felt that there should be more representation from local members on the Task and Finish Group.  Officers advised that, although potential providers did not attend on the day of the event, indications from informal discussions with them showed that they may be interested in submitting a full tender bid, hence the recommendation that a formal tender process be undertaken.  Assurances were also given that if none of the tenders submitted met the Council’s requirements then no tender would be awarded and current services would still continue.

 

Councillor Jason McLellan expressed concern regarding the recommendations to undertake a formal tender process for care provision given that the recent CSSIW report on domiciliary care had highlighted weaknesses in the commissioning and procurement process for care services.  Officers advised that they were totally different issues and explained that the domiciliary care report had raised issues in terms of day to day procurement of care for individual service users whereas Cabinet was asked to consider undertaking a formal tender process following EU regulations on the commissioning of a large residential service.  Reference was also made to the Procurement Strategy which set out clear definitions for commissioning and procurement services.  Councillor McLellan felt that further clarification was required and it was noted that the domiciliary care report would be considered at the next meeting of the Corporate Governance Committee.

 

Having received assurances from officers regarding the robustness of the tendering process and given that the issues raised in the domiciliary care report had no relevance to the report recommendations it was –

 

RESOLVED that Cabinet request Officers to undertake –

 

(a)       a formal tender process with respect to the provision of services at Hafan Deg (Rhyl) with a view to transferring the building to an external organisation, commissioning a day care service within the building and, in addition, enabling 3rd sector agencies to provide early intervention activities for older people that reduce social isolation, support independence and promote resilience;

 

(b)       a formal tender process with respect to the provision of services at Dolwen (Denbigh) with an external organization with a view to transferring the building and the whole service to an external organisation that will register Dolwen to provide elderly mental health (EMH) day and residential care;

 

(c)        that all tender documentation specify requirements to evidence the quality of care and Welsh language provision that would be provided at both establishments, and

 

(d)       that at the conclusion of the tender process the bids are evaluated and analysed for potential impacts by the Task & Finish Group before being presented to Performance Scrutiny and Cabinet with recommendations of the preferred Provider, before appointment, in order to gain Cabinet’s full approval and to achieve the most advantageous outcome.  (Any appointments would be subject to Cabinet being satisfied that the transfer of assets and the planned provision of services at those establishments would be in the best interest of service-users, residents and the Council).