Decision details

The Cabinet Member authorised the delegation of the discretionary function of contracting for the provision of adult and young carers services to Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) for a period of 3 years commencing the 1 August 2020, with an optional 1 year extension.

The recommendation to delegate the discretionary function of providing an all age carers service to CCC and for a jointly procured service is made on the basis of the following factors:

-       Improve service delivery and individual outcomes for carers of any age in Peterborough

-       Provide the opportunity to integrate with wider system changes in order to improve the continuity/seamlessness of care

-       Improved commissioning of services by aligning resources with CCC in order to increase capacity and improve outcomes for individuals by making better use of the resources invested

-       Working to Care Act and Children and Families Act 2014 principles to provide a preventative support service for both adult and young carers to reduce referrals to more costly services

Alternative options considered:

1)    PCC to re-tender a contract for carer’s services.  Rejected - Adopting a joint commissioning approach will provide efficiencies , as well as achieving an increase in aligned resources. There are economies of scale to be achieved and opportunities to improve the use of the invested resource by bringing the resources invested by the two organisations together

2)    Cut funding completely and stop preventative support services for carers.  Rejected – would result in non-compliance with Care Act and Children and Families Act 2014  and in greater use of higher cost services due to carer breakdown

None.

·         Local Government Act 1972

·         Local Government Act 2000

·         Equality Act 2010

·         Care Act 2014

·         Children and Families Act 2014