Decision details

To delegate authority to the Director of Integration and Quality, following consultation with the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Aspiration, Schools & Lifelong Learning and Director of Children’s Services, to enter into, following a mini competition, one or two Block Contracts for 3-6 beds with providers on the existing Children’s Residential Care Framework.

1.  The recommendation will enable the Council to enter into block contract arrangements for Children’s Residential Care Services to increase local choice and placement stability whilst improving the unit cost of commissioned residential placements.

2.  Commissioning this service via a call-off from an existing Looked After Children’s Residential Care Framework will, if successful, generate better value through a competitive bidding process. Wider system savings will also be generated by placing children within or close to the City, for example through reducing the time and travel costs associated with Social Workers supporting children over long distances, giving children the opportunity of staying in local schools, being closer to family and friends for contact and being able to access local health and therapeutic services that already know them and understand their needs. 

1.  Use of SCC property to establish a local residential provision owned and operated by the Council is also being considered, but would not be available in the short term as a solution to the Council’s current level of need for such provision, mainly because suitable accommodation would first have to be found and the provision would need to be mobilised from scratch. There are moves to investigate the feasibility of establishing such provision in-house, but for the medium to longer term. Even if this becomes a viable option, it is unlikely that such provision would grow to meet all of the residential care needs of Southampton children in care.

2.  Continuing only to call off residential placements from the existing residential framework on a one by one basis was considered, but the recommended option provides greater scope for achieving better outcomes and better value as part of a more stable commissioning arrangement and partnership with a residential care provider than is possible when calling off residential placements on a spot purchase basis.