Agenda item

Report from the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health.

Recommendations:

1.    That Cabinet approve the creation of a Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) to ensure that for the development of future Supported Living contracts, providers are aligned to Rotherham’s vision of providing housing for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. This will be based on the principles contained in ‘Building the Right Home’.

Consideration was given to the report which proposed that Rotherham developed a Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) for supported living. The aim of the FPS was to achieve high quality supported living provision across the Borough; flexibility for suppliers to be added to the FPS at any stage of its lifetime; cost saving through increased competition; opportunity to stimulate development in the Supported Living Market; and potential to increase access for Rotherham’s small to medium enterprises and support the delivery of Rotherham Council’s social value ambition.

There were currently 206 people living in supported living funded by the Council with most (198) living in within Rotherham and 8 outside. The Council currently commissioned supported living for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, most of which was shared accommodation.

Section 2.10 of the report set out observations on Rotherham’s current Supported Living Market. It was noted that most development had been ad-hoc due to a market-led approach, but it was felt that market management and engagement were required to better shape the future of supported living in Rotherham. Choice could have been being restricted by a dominance of national providers in Rotherham’s externally commissioned providers. In accordance with the Social Value Policy, there were aspirations to develop locally sourced solutions. There was also a dominance on the shared model of supported living. There was a risk that this form of model could lead to housing being allocated based on availability rather than need. A lack of core and cluster accommodation in Rotherham was also reported along with no dedicated supported living units in the area for autistic people. There was a concentration of supported living  in Maltby and Wath-upon-Dearne. Learning disability providers had raised that there was a difficulty in meeting the demand for supported living services, particularly the challenge of identifying suitable accommodation.

When consulted, people with a learning disability, autistic people and their families stated that they wanted supported living which was flexible, offered a choice and would enable them to support them to further develop their independence.

The options available were set out in section 3 of the report submitted. The option of a market led approach was not recommended as developments were led and determined by the market and not the needs of residents. It would also create a mixed and uneven supply. The second option was to bring the future provision of supported living ‘in-house.’ This was not recommended as it would involve the procurement of suitable parcels of land and would require the Council to provide capital and staffing investment for developing 12 units for the next 10 years. This was not currently factored into the Medium-Term Financial Strategy. Further, the Council could not be both a landlord or care provider. The traditional framework of commissioning supported living services through a framework agreement was not recommended as this was seen as a closed system that did not allow new suppliers to join until the next agreement was awarded.

The recommended option was the Flexible Purchasing System as set out in section 3.4 of the report.

Resolved:-

1.    That Cabinet approve the creation of a Flexible Purchasing System (FPS) to ensure that for the development of future Supported Living contracts, providers are aligned to Rotherham’s vision of providing housing for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. This will be based on the principles contained in ‘Building the Right Home’.