Better Consultation In Tendering

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Better Consultation in Tendering

Better Consultation In Tendering

A failure to use information properly

New reports from City of Edinburgh Council were heard on the 31st of August. They included a report on Consultation and Engagement during the competitive tendering process for care and support services. It must have made for uncomfortable reading for those in charge of the council.

It made clear that those in charge used information not intended for that use in the Equality Impact Assessment, taking responses from a Care At Home Survey. People were not aware of what their comments would be used for, were unaware of the proposed changes, and so were not really commenting on them! This was very much a case of information being used to support the case for tendering not a genuine attempt to consult.

What will these reports be used for - we will have to wait and see. We wouldn’t be surprised if there were still people within the council who thought that the worst anxieties the people went through were created by provider groups protecting their own interests rather than the result of a "Council led mess". While there is a genuine wish amongst some council officials to improve their performance in the future, we do not know how much is about real people and how much is about “restoring Edinburgh’s reputation”.

You can read the report here

Consultation on the Proposed Social Care Procurement

The Key Points Simplified.

The Scottish Government has written some new advice for local authorities on how to get it right when they are buying social care services.

The guidance spends a lot of time talking about other policies at the start. This is to make sure that everyone knows that the actual buying of social care services are just part of a much bigger picture about how community care is provided.

Part of this is a helpful section on service user and carer involvement which notes the different ways groups of people might get involved. It also makes clear that it is possible when a service supplies good outcomes for the people concerned the local authority can choose to renew the contract (p22).

Before the main part of the document, the guidance makes clear that all local authorities should have a plan for meeting the needs of local people that recognises the complexity of their needs and how they change over time

New Guidance

There is now information of available on the proposed guidance on Social Care Procurement and how service users can be consulted. It is open for 3 months and there are easy read information on the website.

The draft Guidance and the other material supporting consultation can all be accessed online on the consultation web pages of the Scottish Government website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current

Council Buckle Under Pressure

NO ONE LEFT BEHIND

A REAL CHOICE FOR EVERYONE

On Wednesday night 250 people with learning disabilities, their supporters and carers protested outside Edinburgh's Annual Social Work lecture. They were demanding to be able to choose the services and service providers that they wanted. Edinburgh Council had put their support services up for sale in a competitive tender process and almost all of 800 service users were being forced to change. In an effort to take more control individuals had applied for a direct Payment to make their own choice rather than trust the council's decision making process. However the council then suspended Direct Payment applications to prevent people having that choice.

The demonstration showed the strength of feeling and almost everyone attending the lecture showed their support. Even the main speaker sent a message of support!

At the meeting Peter Gabbitas, Edinburgh Director of Social Work announced that the council had got it wrong. He apologised for the hurt they had caused and said that they had badly underestimated the concern of service users and carers. Direct Payments for the 87 people with applications in the pipeline would be processed and the transfer of contracts to new providers delayed until this was done.

However.... it looks like they may be trying to deny people a meaningful choice. Plans to cut the level of Direct Payments to below what could buy the service that people want are being brought forward. Cutting a Direct Payment without making sure people can still get the service they need is illegal. The local authority must ensure any new rate is reasonable based on negotiation and not dogma.

And many more people who now realise what is happening to them want to stay with their existing provider either through having a Direct Payment or just in the same way they always have are being forced to move.

That why no one should be forced to move if they don't want to and why there should be no cut in Direct Payments so the choice that people get is a real one. That's why we still be at the Council meeting 19th November at 9.30 at the City Chambers making our points.

Click to read a personal report from the social work lecture

What we say

The following video shows people's concerns over the proposed transfer of the care and support services to new providers. It includes comments on the length of waiting time for a Direct Payment, the views of those who don't yet get services and the tragedy of change with out proper planning.

Click this link to watch in on YouTube

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