Agenda item - Commissioning Children's Services in Brighton & Hove

Introduction

18.1    The Board considered a report of the Executive Director, Children’s Services, BHCC and the Chief Operating Officer, CCG which set out the mechanisms for strengthening joint commissioning arrangements between the Council and CCG following dissolution of the Section 75 Children’s Commissioning Agreement on 1^st October 2014. 

18.2    Geraldine Hoban informed the Board that it was felt that there was a need to strengthen the commissioning arrangements, the performance monitoring mechanism and the safeguarding agenda.  The report recommended that rather than have the Section 75 arrangement, there would be strengthened collaborative working.

18.3    Pinaki Ghoshal stressed that Section 75 agreement had been written at a different point of time.  He mentioned that the CCG no longer had responsibility for certain services.  Services were now commissioned and provided by Public Health, NHS England and Children’s Services in addition to the CCG.  The provider agreement with the Sussex Community Trust was unaffected by the proposals. 

            Questions and Discussion

18.4    Councillor Shanks commended the recommendations.  She wanted to ensure that all services worked well together.  

18.5    Frances McCabe stressed that what was delivered was the most important consideration.   It would be commendable if services were delivered in a more integrated way, particularly for people with complex needs. 

18.6    Denise D’Souza commented that she considered it an appropriate time to review all the commissioning arrangements in adult services.  She would be submitting a report on the subject to the Board in the Autumn. 

18.7    George Mack commended the proposals and looked forward to a strategic view of what was happening in children’s work.  Meanwhile, he questioned the wording of recommendation 2.2.  

18.8    Pinaki Ghoshal agreed that the wording of recommendation 2.2 needed to be amended to refer to the SEN review. 

18.9    RESOLVED – (1) That it be agreed to endorse the mechanisms for strengthened collaborative commissioning arrangements between the CCG and Council (outlined in Part 3 of the report).

(2)        That it be agreed that the LA and the CCG develop a joint strategy for children’s health and wellbeing services which will be brought back to the Health & Wellbeing Board in 2015. This will be informed by the recommendations of the Disability & Special Educational Needs Review to be agreed by the Health & Wellbeing Board in early 2015.