Agenda item

Councillor Paul Maslin, Chair of the Panel, informed Members that he had received a request from Councillor Luke Sorba to consider a decision taken by the Mayor and Cabinet on 14 September 2021 in light of proposals in a report relating to “Transforming and Modernising Adult and Social”.  The Chair invited Councillor Sorba to address the meeting in that regard, and submissions made were noted.

The Executive Director for Community Services (CS), and the Director of Finance (Corporate Services) were present to introduce the report and respond to questions.

The Panel noted responses to questions raised by Councillor Sorba as follows:

1.            Initial relationship with Newton Europe

The Director for CS clarified that in light of financial cuts proposals, a request was made by the Public Accounts Select Committee for the Council to review the use of resources, with a view to identify opportunities to deliver cashable savings across departments.  It was stated that the aim was to enable the Council in its efforts to set yearly balanced budgets.  Members were advised that in light of that, Community Services department undertook a review by initiating a tendering process, and four organisations submitted bids.  Thus, the Council’s initial relationship with Newton Europe was not because they had recommended themselves for the work, but stemmed from the fact that the company won the contract to undertake the consultancy, with a view to help modernise adults’ social care provision in Lewisham.

2.            Credibility of tendering process

Members were advised by the Executive Director for CS that Newton Europe had gained credibility in the months they were tasked to conduct a diagnostics in Lewisham.  However, the time spent alongside front-line staff would not have provided them with an added advantage because the officers who made the decision to award the contract were not involved in the diagnosis.  It was confirmed that the process applied in awarding the contract was on the basis of the Crown Commercial Services Framework.  Thus, the arrangements were transparent and objective in line with the Council’s comprehensive tendering programme.

3.            Value for money

a.    Financial Savings on Investments

The Executive Director for CS reiterated to Members that the Mayor and Cabinet’s decision recognised that £4.5m was a significant amount of money.  However, that amount represented less than 4% of the annual revenue budget for adults’ social care provision in Lewisham.  Thus, the decision to award the contract to Newton Europe, which included the diagnostics, was based on an invest-to-save cumulative option of a one-off cost, with potential annual savings of between £8.5 and £11m over the course of four to five years.

The Director of Finance (Corporate Services) echoed statements about the return on investments, highlighting to the Panel that the decision to award the contract to Newton Europe was a reasonable option in financial terms.  He advised the Panel that although there would be a challenge in regard to delays in the timing of implementation, for six months effectively, the £4.5m outlay of annual savings of between £8m and £11m would pay for itself within a year, in addition to structural and cultural benefits for local residents.

b.    Other investment considerations

The Executive Director for CS declared an interest as a member of the Association of Directors of Adults Social Care (ADASS) in England.  He advised Members that the ADASS was supportive of individual directors, and in that role, it had been instrumental in putting forward approaches to reduce expenditure in adults’ social care, which the Council had adopted in recent years, with a view to deliver improvements for the benefits of Lewisham residents.

Members were advised by the Executive Director of CS that Newton Europe had an added credibility through its involvement in several contracts relating to adults’ social care services with central government, other local authorities and NHS organisations across the country, and most recently, with the Royal Borough of Greenwich.   Thus, awarding the contract to Newton Europe would help achieve the development investment opportunity needed in Lewisham, given that the workforce lacked the skills sets required to manage the capacity and analytics of the current review in terms of depth and pace.

In light of a concern by Councillor John Muldoon, the Executive Director expressed a view to the Panel that any increase in national insurance contributions as a result of the review in adults social care provision would likely be borne by central government.

Councillor Juliet Campbell enquired about plans to retain the expertise in light of the large sums of money involved in development opportunities for staff.  In response, the Executive Director of CS informed the Panel that the Council would not restrict staff career progression as a result of the change, but given that the Assistant Chief Executive was leading the Project Management Team, there could be provision to transfer learning in specifications of future jobs.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.