Lancashire County Council Supporting People Partnership

Contract Management Process: Proposal and discussion.

Contract Management

 LCC wishes to ensure that vulnerable people receive high quality housing support services, which continuously improve and provide value for money and positive outcomes for service-users.

 LCC is committed to introducing a robust and structured contract management programme to ensure that the above aims are met.

Effective Contract Management

Effective contract management should be a process that:       Enables both parties to meet their obligations Develops good working relationships between parties Is ongoing, proactive and anticipates future needs Resolves contractual issues quickly and effectively Is based on open communication, mutual understanding and trust Leads to benefits for both customer and provider – win/win

Two areas of contract management

The SP team are proposing that there will be two distinct components forming the overall contract management process. These are: 1. Contract monitoring 2. Contract review

Part 1: Contract Monitoring

 Contract Monitoring is an ongoing, regular and structured process of overseeing the contractual performance of the provider.  Contract Monitoring is largely a desktop function for the SP team. Communication between the SP team and providers will usually be via e-mail or phone.

What will be monitored?

          Yearly accounts Insurance cover Client Record Forms (who is receiving services) Access to Services (who is not receiving services) Performance Indicator workbooks National Outcomes Framework data Complaints Notifiable incidents and issues Delivery of eligible / occasional welfare services Quality Assessment Framework Self-assessments

Client Record Forms

 The data that the SP team receives from the JCSHR will be analysed and a report will be sent to each provider every 6 months.

 Performance will be monitored to ensure providers are delivering services in line with expectations, e.g. primary client group, age group, etc.

Access to Services

 The SP team proposes to introduce an additional page into the PI workbooks to monitor access to services.

 This would monitor the number of referrals a service has received and the outcome of the referral, e.g. accepted, rejected, did not complete assessment process, etc.

 This will enable analysis of any access issues for reasons of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, primary client group, etc.

PI Workbooks

   The PI Workbooks will be monitored for accuracy. Providers will be contacted if their submissions contain data which is inconsistent with previous submissions or appears as if it may be inaccurate.

Targets will be set for all providers in relation to Availability, Utilisation, Planned Departures and Throughput. Performance against targets will be monitored each quarter. Quarterly PI figures will be discussed with providers if they deviate significantly from targets / expectations. They will be enclosed in a quarterly written report sent to all providers with any agreed action points.

Notifiable incidents and issues

   It is proposed to introduce a new form which clarifies additional information which providers will be obliged to inform the SP about.

This information primarily relates to risk, health and safety and media / reputation.

It also obliges the provider to inform the SP team if there is a likelihood that there will be a significant deviation from contractual expectations. For example the temporary closure of the service, a significant deviation from staffing input, etc.

National Outcomes Framework

 All providers are expected to deliver services which aim to deliver outcomes in line with the NOF.  It is likely that performance targets in relation to NOF outcomes will be agreed with all providers during the life of the steady-state contracts.

 The SP team will give all providers a regular analysis of how their services are performing in terms of delivering NOF outcomes.

Part 2: Contract Review

 From September 2008, the SP team will commence the process of undertaking a contract review for each service.  The majority of services will be reviewed annually  Reviews can be more frequent if required  Providers will be informed in advance of the likely quarter the review will be held in  Providers will be given 4 weeks notice of the date of the review

Purpose of Contract Reviews

    Contract Reviews will address the commissioning responsibilities of the Local Authority by focussing on high risk areas such as Safeguarding adults, Health and Safety and Complaints.

Reviews will promote continuous improvement by monitoring performance against targets and validating QAF core and supplementary objectives Reviews will focus on validating Performance Indicators and outcomes.

The review process focuses on the current contract. It does not deal with re-procurement. This will be addressed in Lancashire SP’s Procurement Policy currently in development.

Contract Review

 Reviews will include a full day meeting between the Contracts Officer and Provider.

 Reviews will include input from service-users and key stakeholders

Contract Review: Focus areas

            Issues raised by providers Health and Safety Safeguarding adults Complaints Quality validation of 2 or 3 QAF objectives Delivery of contracted hours Payments and other financial issues Validation of Key Performance Indicators Validation of Outcomes Standard of Support plans Eligibility Accreditation

QAF Validation: Core objectives

 By July 2009 all providers will be expected to reach level B in Core Objectives: Needs and Risk Assessment and Support Planning  By July 2010 all providers will be expected to reach level B in the above 2 objectives plus 2 others  By July 2011 all providers will be expected to reach level B in all 6 objectives

QAF: Supplementary objectives

 By July 2008 all providers will be expected to have reached level C in both ‘Service User involvement’ and ‘The Living Environment  By July 2009 all providers will be expected to reach level B in one of these standards.

 By July 2010 all providers will be expected to have reached level B in both of these standards.

Our proposals: Your views

 Effective contract monitoring needs the support and input of all parties. Please ensure that you share your views with us on these proposals.

Thank you.