Issue - meetings

            The Sub-Committee was advised that the need for short term residential respite care for adults with disabilities was met through an in-house resource at Moorfield Road, Widnes. This resource required modernisation in line with Valuing People. Halton PCT also had a residential resource that was accessed through the partnership working arrangements.

 

            Currently the Bredon resource was closed whilst capital work was undertaken to enable reconfigured services to be delivered at this facility. Work would be completed by the end of 2006, and would include four fully accessible respite beds to meet the needs of those with severe physical disabilities as well as challenging behaviour.

 

            The report proposed that the service based at Moorfield be closed and the new service based at Bredon be tendered out. In view of the significant budget pressures, the high cost of in-house provision and the Council’s duty to ensure value for money and service delivery, it was proposed to transfer provision of care and support at Bredon to the independent sector through a process of competitive tendering. The proposed contract period was three years and the estimated value over this term, based on the independent sector English Average unit cost, uplifted to 2006/07 prices, was £1.03m. This represented a potential saving of £340,000 over the term of the contract.

 

            It was noted that current staff at Moorfield would be eligible for transfer to the new providers of the respite services but currently there were insufficient vacancies within the supported housing network service to offer redeployment and it was likely that this would be an attractive alternative.

 

            RESOLVED: That

 

(1) the proposal to tender for a 4 bed short stay unit based at Bredon be accepted;

 

(2) the proposal to close the 4 bedded unit at Moorfield be accepted; and

 

(3) further work would be undertaken in partnership with the Primary Care Trust to seek further investment in more innovative respite services rather than traditional bed based services.