Decision details

Reason for the decision

The proposed decision is to re-open the existing Kent and Medway Independent Fostering Services Framework Agreement to allow new entrants to the market and existing spot providers to join this contract Framework.  This will be done through completion of a competitive tender process, and this will support KCC in meeting its Sufficiency Duty.

Background

KCC has a significant in-house Fostering Service, and the vast majority of new fostering placement starts are provided by our own provision.  However, there is still a need to search externally for approximately 35% of our fostering placement needs in order to meet our sufficiency requirements.

Local Authorities, as part of their Sufficiency Duty, must take steps to secure, as far as reasonably practicable, sufficient accommodation within its areas to meet the needs of children they are looking after.  The proposed decision directly relates to this duty by aiming to provide a greater sufficiency of foster care placements which meet demand and the needs of the children and young people and helps support social workers in matching the requirements to providers and foster carers. 

In September 2021, the CYPE Cabinet Committee received a report giving the background and rationale for tendering for a new Framework Agreement for Independent Fostering Providers (IFP), jointly with Medway Council, from April 2022.  The recommendation was endorsed and following an open competitive tender process the contract went live, as planned, on 1 April 2022.

The original published tender documents included the provision to enable the Council to periodically open up the Kent and Medway IFP Framework Agreement to allow additional providers to join.  This flexibility gives the Councils an opportunity to encourage new entrants to the market and those who previously missed the tender deadline to work in partnership to meet the needs and outcomes of children and young people in our care and to meet our Sufficiency Duty.

Framing Kent’s Future – Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

Priority 4 – New Models of Care and Support

The recommendations within this report support the Council’s commitments:

•           To support the most vulnerable children and families in our county, ensuring our social work practice supports manageable caseloads, reflective learning, joined up safeguarding and effective corporate parenting arrangements.

•           To reshape our commissioning practice to ensure we build strategic partnerships with our providers, through earlier engagement, more consistent and proactive commissioning practice, and a stronger focus on co-designing services.

From an operational perspective this means we will protect vulnerable children and families from harm, act as a good Corporate Parent and work with commissioned providers to ensure sufficiency of fostering placements.

The recommendations and decisions sought in this report also support the requirements for service transformation identified in Securing Kent’s Future:

Objective 2: Delivering savings from identified opportunity areas to set a sustainable 2024/25 budget and MTFP. 

CYPE placement strategies: Work to assess the opportunities that exist around the sufficiency strategy, ensuring the right mix of placements and working towards bringing placement costs down. Although it is recognised that market and placement costs in Kent are impacted by UAS children and other factors beyond the Council’s control.

Sourcing external fostering placements through a Framework Agreement meets the Public Contract Regulations (2015).  It provides the Council with the ability to call off a range of placement types and sets a clear pricing structure which can be linked to the Council’s annual budget planning processes.

Financial Implications

The majority of the funding for external fostering placements is in existing budgets within Integrated Children’s Services, with some in Disabled Children and Young People’s Services. Furthermore, there are placements which are paid for under the grant conditions agreed with the Home Office for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UAS children).

The spend for the last financial year 2022/2023 on all external fostering placements, including UAS children is £20,199,057.  This is reported within the following Key Service Lines in the budget: Looked After Children - Care and Support, Looked After Children (with Disability) - Care and Support, and Asylum. These budgets are funded by either the UAS children Grant or the Council’s revenue base budget, as appropriate.

All price review processes have been agreed with Finance and are embedded within the terms and conditions of the contract. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used as the indicator for price increases with some recognition of the impact of National Living Wage increases for younger staff working in the IFP’s. These increases are in line with other price reviews on all services within KCC and nationally are funded from Pay and Price Pressure monies.

As Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services, I agree to:

i)Re-open the Kent and Medway Independent Fostering Services Framework Agreement to allow new providers to join from April 2024.

ii)            Delegate decisions and necessary actions, including the award and the implementation of any contract, contract extensions and re-openings of the Framework, allowable within the terms and conditions of the contract, to the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, or other Officer as instructed by the Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member.