HAVING YOUR SAY Scottish Procurement Directorate Joint Improvement Team and Learning Disability Alliance Scotland

Lots of people across the country have care and support services, like home care, support workers, short breaks, day services and advocacy. These services are usually funded by local Councils, and the people using the services sometimes pay towards the cost of those services. Procurement is the word used to describe the way that Councils arrange for services to be put in place by voluntary organisations and private companies, and the way that Councils pay for those services. Contract

Council Voluntary Organisation or Private Company care and support services, like home care, support workers, Short breaks, day services and advocacy service users and carers

Some people said that they are not happy with the way that Councils buy services from private and voluntary service providers. Some people say that: They are not being asked enough about what support they want and which providers they want support from; They are happy with their support and do not see why the Council wants to change it; They do not think the Council is buying enough time to give them proper support; They are unhappy with the service which is supporting them and want a different service provider, but also want to be involved in choosing this new provider; They know of other Council areas, where things are done very differently to the one they live in. The Scottish government agreed that it would help change things for the better if they wrote a report giving advice about all of these things. The report giving that advice is called guidance. Why write guidance on procurement?

The guidance mostly gives advice to Councils about what to do in buying care and support services, but how they do this is also very important to lots of people:  service users;  carers;  Councillors and board members;  council staff;  service providers and their staff;  advocacy groups;  representative groups;  regulators;  newspapers, radio and television;  the general public. Who is the guidance for?

The Scottish Government has listened to what service users and carers say about their experiences. They have asked Council staff and service providers about the way that Councils are buying and arranging contracts for care and support services. They have now written a guidance report, which gives advice about all of the main issues and problems which were raised by all of these people. They now want to check whether they understood you correctly, what they have said is right, and whether they need to change or add things to the guidance So now it is time to talk and tell the government what you think about the advice they have prepared. Time to talk about the advice/guidance?

What the Guidance says for you?  That you have a right to speak up and should be supported and given time to have a say in what services are arranged and how they given to you  That you should be involved in the way that councils buy the services which support you  That councils should think about how to involve you in choosing which voluntary and private organisations should provide your support  That your views are important in making the decision to continue with the current service or buy a new one.

What does the Guidance say must be done? The Guidance has 12 Principles, which Councils must follow when they are buying care and support services. service users and carers outcomes strategic commissioning personalisationinvolvement national care standards codes of practice best value benefits and risks procurement rules leadershipworkforcepartnership

What do the Principles say? All of the 12 Guiding Principles are important in buying care and support services – for example four of them say that:  Outcomes – the council must buy good quality social care and support services which give you positive outcomes in your lives  Personalisation – the Council must think about how these services will give you choice and control  Involvement – the Council must listen to what you say about your needs and what you want from services  Best Value – the Council must think about the best way to provide good support services within the money it has available

The guidance sets out advice on the 5 steps Councils have to take when they buy care and support services. Analyse Prepare Plan Secure Services Review Councils are often doing this already.

The guidance says that Councils should involve and consult with service users and carers and service providers at each stage. Analyse Prepare Plan Secure Services Review

Involving service users The Guidance says that Councils can involve service users and carers in various ways:  Stakeholder Groups – some people are always good at speaking up  Users & Carers Forums – where service users or carers meet regularly to discuss lots of different issues  Representative Group – some of the people who will be affected chosen carefully  Sample Group – One or two of the people who will be affected  Everyone – all the people who will be affected

The guidance advice says that Councils will need to think about various questions:  Who should we consult about buying care and support services?  What information will they need and how should we provide that information?  How should we support them to say what they think and want?  When should we provide information and consult?

The Guidance says that Councils…  Should identify who will be involved in the procurement process  Should consider using advocacy services and developing citizen leadership  Should make sure that some service users have the skills and knowledge to take part in the procurement process

The second step Councils take is to:  Find out what needs and outcomes are wanted  Look at what support people already have  Find out if what care and support services are good and what services are not so good  Think about organisations who provide better services and the way they do it.

The Guidance says that Councils…  Should use existing personal planning information in working out what is good  Involve service users in looking at existing service supply and outcomes  Use Equality Impact Assessments as part of the process for considering the options for service delivery  Think about the current mix of service providers and consider options about how this might be improved

Councils need to plan what services will be put in place, how they will be put in place, and how they will be kept in place. So, they have to decide:  How much money can be spent  What type of service we should we  What information we need to choose the best services  How to give everyone who wants to a fair chance to provide the best service  What rules there should be for services to follow

The Guidance says that Councils…  Should plan how you are involved early in the process  Should plan how to ask about your views on the service you receive – this should be regularly  Should plan how you are informed about what’s happening, in ways that suit you, for example through meetings, easy read documents, DVDs, CDs  Should plan how you have the chance to be involved in working out the ways to decide which service provider is best.

Councils may have to do various things to buy and arrange services:  Advertising  Communication  Tendering – asking service providers to say how well they can provide a service and how much it will cost to do it  Evaluation – deciding who will provide the best service  Arranging a contract with the service  Making the changes

 Should make the language used to advertise the contract respectful to you  Should inform you about any possible big changes to your carer and support services service at the earliest stage  Should consider how best to involve you when deciding on the best service  Should inform you about any change in the arrangements for your services and about what you rights are if you’re not happy with the new arrangements. The Guidance says that Councils…

Councils have to do various things to review services:  Decide what to check services for  Work out how to check  Focus on making it better  Report and plan improvements

 Should ask you about your views on how a current service is running, by holding meetings, groups and sending questionnaires  Should check up and that services are supporting you well  Should tell you after the service review about any plans to make changes that will affect you The Guidance says that Councils…

Opinions on the Guidance What do you think about what you have seen and heard of the guidance? Was there anything especially good about what you heard? Was there anything you did not like about what you heard? What would you like to see changed in the final guidance? Is there anything missing from what you have heard?

We would be very grateful to receive your opinion on this guidance. We would appreciate that all responses are submitted to the Scottish procurement Directorate and Joint Improvement Team. Comments can be made by to: Comments can also be made by letter to: Alex Bell, Scottish Government, Partnership Improvement and Outcomes Division, 3ER, St Andrews House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DG To make sure that we treat your response in the right way, please also complete return the Respondent Information Form. Responses back to…