West London Strategic Commissioning

The West London Alliance The West London Alliance (WLA) is a partnership between seven West London local authorities of Barnet, Brent, Ealing, H&F, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow. The Childrens Programme extents to include RBKC, Westminster and Redbridge. Over 20 years' experience in partnership working, the WLA is committed to an enduring programme of collaboration and innovation to improve outcomes for West London. It is governed by Board of Council Leaders and steered by a Chief Executives Group. A successful outcome of our sub-regional approach has been the investment in sub-regional strategic commissioning and market management capability, which has been underpinned by the development of a jointly owned system that supports effective market engagement through scale. Public sector capability built up over many years, to meet LA requirements

Commissioning & Procurement: Driving outcomes Our vision is to develop an environment where the needs of our young people are met effectively by the market. Our strategic commissioning approach seeks to achieve this by local authorities (LAs) collectively procuring, with a single system and consistent terms and conditions – which supports providers as well as LAs. This unified position gives our LAs access to fair rates driven by competition to work with us. We assure this with a contract management approach, holding providers to account for quality and cost whilst understanding the barriers to meeting LA requirements. CarePlace gives us real time information from our DPVs’, this supports daily purchasing decisions but also collates to support provider negotiations, and market management. Right placement in the right place and at the right time. Data from the CarePlace system enables us to be intelligent customers and supports evidence based commissioning. This facilitates effective market management, and also helps providers to fully meet the needs of Local Authorities. We have delivered significant financial cash and cost avoidance savings from our approach to the market, but also from process improvements and the reduced duplication of activity across LAs.

WLA Children’s Sub-Regional Commissioning, Procurement and Market Management Powered by Sub-Regional Commissioning , Strategic Market Management & Sufficiency Managing placement category markets Stimulate supply and increase competition Relationship management with key suppliers Wider market development to drive up quality and address gaps in supply Drive negotiations with high cost/volume providers to deliver better terms or efficiency savings Delivery of block contract options Procurement Operations - Management of DPS’s, procurement vehicles and spot purchasing Stakeholder management Suspensions and reinstatement On-Boarding new providers Contract extensions and re-procurement Activity/performance reporting Ensuring LA/Provider compliance Coordination of safeguarding/quality information Managing non WLA LA’s access and activity SEN Inflationary Fee Increase Process Commercial negotiations with common suppliers Strategic Contract Performance Management Coordination of contract management approach for WLA members Targeted at suppliers based on criteria Monitor regulatory inspections Contract management meetings Development & maintenance of approaches via CarePlace Reporting and management information Governance and Reporting Benefits realisation tracking and reporting Data collection, analysis and reporting on programme activity Production of management information to support decision making Governance and performance management Financial Benefits Cash and cost avoidance savings: Managing inflationary pressures as a sub-region and via enforcement of contract clauses Managing adherence and enforcement of ceiling rates Ensuing discount/credit regimes are applied consistently (permanence, siblings etc) Using technology to flag package reviews to reduce costs Commercial negotiations with key suppliers capitalising on collective market influence Efficiencies through development of block contract models Children’s Categories Special Educational Needs Independent Fostering Agency Residential Children’s Homes Care Leavers Semi-Independent

The problem

Exercise From your experience - what are the current challenges we face in the children’s placements market? Consider the issues from the point of view of the local authorities, providers and young people themselves

The problem for West London Current model of spot purchasing procurement is: Not compliant with PCR 2015 Widely seen as the most inefficient model of purchasing in terms of value for money Limited ability to manage/shape the market with any degree of success Unresolved tension between: LA Children’s Statutory Duties vs. Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR2015) Independent Care Home Association – Collective challenge to UK LA’s about how they purchase children’s homes (also relevant for SEN INMSS and IFA placements) in context of PCR2015 Difficulty linking “Demand” (referrals to suppliers) with “Supply” (actual placements made and current available supply) to provide intelligence on unmet needs or gaps in supply to meet demand After many years work, low levels of sufficiency of local placements in West London remained (60% out of London) and the need to move to alternative procurement models to stimulate the market Length of time and resource required to tender for block contracts Cost pressures to LA’s and the management of market and inflationary pressures LA Children’s Statutory Duties - Placing children at risk of harm and the application of professional judgement and matching children’s needs to placements vs Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR2015) – EU thresholds for competition over the lifetime of a contract and the aggregate value of multiple contracts/placements placed with the same provider

West London’s Dynamic Purchasing Vehicles Contracts to cover West London children’s placement purchasing across IFA, Residential and SEN provision, with single sets of terms and conditions Vehicles to procure placements under the light touch regime provisions laid out in Public Contracts Regulations 2015, managing the conflict between PCR and LA children statutory duty An “adapted” or “Pseudo” Dynamic Purchasing System referred to as a Dynamic Purchasing Vehicle (DPV) to meet PCR15 whilst retaining flexibility for LAs to put the needs of the child first Each procurement has been led by a ‘lead LA’, with support from the WLA and all west London LAs. Therefore 3 legal and procurement teams have given due consideration to the PCR2015 and have ensured the principles of transparency and equal treatment of suppliers are embedded in the establishment the 3 DPV’s Independent whole compliance solution, to remove the need for access to other procurement contracts

DPV overview – how they work Procurement compliant. Meets PCR2015 under the light touch regime, open from April 2018 – May 2024. Intention is to make all new placements made on the DPVs once live. Open & easy to access. Minimum criteria to be approved to supply – Ofsted registration, insurance and credit report. Service requirements defined at point of call off. Any Local Authority. DPVs are open to any LA nationally, to maximise the benefit of scale and investment Block & individual placements. Robust call off procedures setting out arrangements for placing individual children and calling off a block contract E-Brokerage & E-Contracting. Electronic brokering and contracting functionality within CarePlace Automated Key Performance Indicators. Responsibility on providers to report on KPIs, through an online system that automatically collates responses to be utilised as effective MI. Safeguarding Alerts. CarePlace allows for one LAs safeguarding alert to be visible to all LAs on the system. Informed commissioning. CarePlace real time data on the DPVs’ journey LAs towards more informed commissioning Central team. Commissioning and contract management capability to maximise the opportunity of the DPVs for each LA and ensure compliance by providers. Suspension & Barring Policy and Strategic Contract Performance Management Processes built in All Referrals sent through CarePlace Utilise enhanced Search Functionality (so don’t spam all providers!) Collate all options Rank in price order (i.e. cheapest first) Identify best match If two options fully meet needs of child, choose cheapest Confirm with provider and issue IPA

DPV overview – benefits; Driving best value Choice and Competition – To ensure we can access the right placement, in the right place at the right time at the right cost. Value for money & Price Transparency – Driving competition and promoting price transparency the DPVs should ensure value for money, with providers getting a fair price. Embedded discounts – Clear and consistent discounts schedule for services. Competition and Demand – Reduced competition between local authorities across borders which can distort value for money achieved by individual partners. Benchmarking – Quality and cost, outcomes learning. Market Shaping – Provide Commissioners with improved intelligence regarding capacity in the market with necessary intelligence to undertake strategic market management and shaping. Block Contracting – The DPVs allow Local Authorities to readily enter block contract arrangements, which should be win-win for LAs and Providers.

DPV overview – benefits; Driving compliance Compliance with Regulations – The ending of the practice (now non-compliant with legislation) of spot purchasing placements. Establishing DPV’s also delivers compliance with the Children & Families Act 2014, Care Act 2014 and Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This therefore lowers the risk of legal challenge because of having the DPV’s and helps local authorities deliver Best Value Duty. Contracts and Specifications – Shared contracts and specs for each category across West London reducing waste in the supply chain and ensuring consistency in terms, outcomes and standards. Specifications are purposefully non-prescriptive to promote innovation.

DPV overview – benefits; Provider friendly Provider Efficiency – Reduced time and cost for suppliers at procurement, referral and contract monitoring stages. Smart Search Functionality – Ensures that providers only get referrals that are relevant to them. Single Entry – One procurement portal and brokerage platform to do business with West London and beyond. Detached Mediation – WLA team to act as detached arbitrator in disputes between LA’s and providers. Sector Engagement – Regionally and nationally with providers and with DfE, NASS, ICHA and NAFP.

DPV overview – benefits; Maximising operational effectiveness Increased flexibility – Unlike a Framework, a DPV can respond quickly to sudden demand or supply changes in the market Officer Time – Reduced time and cost for local authorities on procurement, contract management and quality assurance. Placement Purchasing – Streamlining the way in which we buy placements via CarePlace which also delivers robust market intelligence and analysis. Electronic Contracting – Contracts will also be issued on the DPV with recent developments to our CarePlace platform, saving officer time and ensuring compliance for the benefit of local authorities and providers. Contract Performance Management – West London have established a shared contract management approach/function with contract monitoring information available to all Safeguarding and Market Intelligence – Information sharing and an ongoing partnership relationship can be developed electronically and more efficiently with early warning across LA’s of market challenges or supplier issues.

Lessons learned…

What next?