Agenda item

Report of the Strategic Director of Children and Young People’s Services

Recommendations:-

1.    That approval be given to the renewal of the existing Section 75 Agreement for joint commissioning and a pooled fund for the provision of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for a further two years (to 31^st October 2020) as provided for in the Agreement.

2.    The authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Children and Young People’s Services to sign a written agreement to extend the Section 75 agreement on behalf of the Council.

3.    That approval be given to the Council’s financial contribution into the pooled fund from the 2018/19 and 2019/20 budgets.

Further to Minute No. 52 of the meeting of the Cabinet and Commissioners held on 16^th October, 2017, consideration was given to the Section 75 Agreement which had been approved between the Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group (RCCG) and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC). 

The Section 75 Agreement replaced an existing Partnership Agreement for the commissioning arrangements between RMBC and the RCCG for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Rotherham.  The Section 75 Agreement strengthened the shared commitment of the two organisations to deliver service improvement and transformation of CAMHS through a joint market approach.  Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group remained supportive of this arrangement.

The Section 75 Agreement built upon the existing partnership by adding a robust framework for managing the service; it set out performance management arrangements and formalised a pooled funding arrangement for the provision of CAMHS services over the medium term.

The Agreement, which was established following approval by Cabinet and Commissioners, had been hosted by the RCCG who has acted as the lead commissioner for the pooled fund in partnership with RMBC.  It was established to last until 31^st October, 2018 unless both parties agreed to an extension of one or two years.  The period since 1^st November had been covered through a suspension in financial regulations, agreed by the Deputy Section 151 Officer, to ensure that there was no gap in service provision for vulnerable children and young people.

It was noted that the CAMHS Service in Rotherham provided by RDaSH was enhanced and complimented by the Looked After and Adopted Children’s Therapeutic Team (LAACTT) which was an in-house service provided by the Council. The Therapeutic Team provided a therapeutic service to looked after adopted children in accordance with the Adoption Support Services (Local Authorities) Regulations 2005 and the adoption national minimum standards 2011.

The aim of the Therapeutic Team was to provide a dedicated specialist therapeutic service to Looked After and Adopted Children, certain children who have been in care, including those in special guardianship order placements, and care leavers.

Resolved:-  (1)  That the renewal of the existing Section 75 Agreement for joint commissioning and a pooled fund for the provision of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for a further two years (to 31^st October, 2020) as provided for in the Agreement be approved.

(2)  That the authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Children and Young People’s Services to sign a written agreement to extend the Section 75 Agreement on behalf of the Council.

(3)  That the Council’s financial contribution into the pooled fund from the 2018/19 and 2019/20 budgets be approved.