Agenda item - SENDIASS – Special Education Needs & Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Services Recommissioning

Report of the Executive Director, Families, Children and Learning (copy attached)

RESOLVED –

That the Children, Young People and Skills Committee grants delegated authority to the Executive Director of Families, Children and Learning to jointly procure the Information, Advice and Support Service Contract with East Sussex County Council in collaboration with Brighton and Hove and East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups and award the contract for an initial term of three years with the option to extend the contract for a further period(s) of up to two years, subject to review and satisfactory performance.

73.1    The Committee considered a report by the Executive Director, Families, Children & Learning, in order to agree the joint recommissoning and procurement of existing Information, Advice and Support Service with East Sussex County Council in collaboration with Brighton & Hove and East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups.  The report was presented by the Commissioning and Performance Manager.

73.2    Mr Muirhead was pleased that officers were able to resolve the issue with social value scoring across Brighton, Hove and East Sussex.  He believed that achieving the right scoring was essential to ensuring the continued involvement of organisations such as the current contract holder, Amaze, who he felt were delivering the work with incredible social value.

73.3    Mr Muirhead noted that that the contract value had remained the same for the last five or six years with no uplift for cost of living rises or inflation.  He said this represented a significant real-terms reduction in funding and asked if this could this have been an opportunity to sustain or add more investment to this very necessary statutory service?

73.4    The Commissioning and Performance Manager said he was looking at reviewing the specifications and that Brighton and Hove was committed to its annual contribution of £120,000.  Some aspects of the delivery would be taken out which would release resources.

73.5    Mr Muirhead asked how officers had consulted with parents and carers on the SENDIASS procurement. 

73.6    The Commissioning and Performance Manager said that as much as possible had been done to consult with parents and carers. He had worked with Amaze, looked at Key Performance Indicators and recognised areas of pressure. They had listened and this was feeding into the process of commissioning. 

73.7    Councillors Lloyd and Grimshaw remarked that it was great to see that the method of setting social value had been formalised.

73.8    Councillor O’Quinn thanked Amaze for all their work and wished them success.  She said that as elected Members they had a responsibility to monitor and scrutinise this service and she asked for this request to be minuted. 

73.9    Councillor Meadows supported the request from Councillor O’Quinn. 

73.10  RESOLVED: That the Children, Young People and Skills Committee grants delegated authority to the Executive Director of Families, Children and Learning to jointly procure the Information, Advice and Support Service Contract with East Sussex County Council in collaboration with Brighton and Hove and East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Groups and award the contract for an initial term of three years with the option to extend the contract for a further period(s) of up to two years, subject to review and satisfactory performance.