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Agenda item

Care Home Services - Funding and Contractual Arrangements

Minutes:

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing presented a report which provided feedback received from care home providers in respect of the viability of establishing an openly procured flexible framework of care home providers, as approved by Cabinet in March 2020. It also sought approval to continue the waiver under Contract Procedure Rule 3.2.3, from the requirement to competitively tender the provision of residential and nursing care home services, based on this feedback received and the risks set out in the report. It also sought approval to enter into new contracts with existing residential and nursing care providers, and enter into contracts with any new providers identified by the Local Authority, for a contract period of up to six years.

 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing highlighted the importance of the funding and contractual arrangements as care homes provide accommodation, care and support for the most vulnerable people of Bridgend.

 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that there were 19 care homes in the Bridgend area which provided 780 beds to their residents of which approximately 50% were funded by BCBC. She added that the last year had been extremely challenging for the care home sector.

 

 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing outlined the risks/issues associated with attempting to establish an openly procured flexible framework, which needed to be considered against the risks of not carrying out a procurement exercise, these were detailed in the table at 4.10.

 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing outlined the care home price schedule for 2021/2022 and compared the costs of other local authorities in Wales. The details of these comparisons were at 4.19 of the report. She stated that a cost pressure analysis had been undertaken in January 2021 in order to determine an uplift amount that existing rates would be increased by, which considered financial pressures for care homes linked to legislative changes (such as National Living Wages (NLW) increases) and other inflationary factors. These calculations had determined a 1.62% increase linked to this cost pressures analysis. She added that in addition to this, as part of the MTFS, there would be a further £250k of grant funding made available for staff/workforce cost pressures. Further details were at 4.2 of the report.

 

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help welcomed the report and echoed the point made about the extreme pressure that care homes had been under. She explained the importance of ensuring the care homes are well supported and that the staff there had the support they needed and with the changes that were to come post Covid-19, it was important to attract new providers into the market. The Cabinet Member was pleased to see the £250k grant funding be made available to provide additional support.

 

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

 

· Noted the feedback received from care home providers in respect of the viability of establishing an openly procured flexible framework of care home providers;

 

 · Gave approval to continue the waiver under Contract Procedure Rule 3.2.3, from the requirement to competitively tender the provision of residential and nursing care home services;

 

· Gave approval to enter into new contracts with existing residential and nursing care providers, and enter into contracts with any new providers identified by the Local Authority, for a contract period of up to six years with an initial term of 3 years and option to extend for a further 3 years;

 

· Noted the fee-setting approach undertaken for the care home sector in 2021/22.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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