ITEM EX11

EXECUTIVE – 30 APRIL 2002

PROPOSALS FOR THE RE-PROVISIONING OF THE OXFORDSHIRE CARE PARTNERSHIP HOMES

Report by the Director of Social Services

1. The County Council’s Homes for Older People were transferred to the Oxfordshire Care Partnership (OCP) because ten did not meet the old standards required under previous legislation. The Care Standards Act radically changed the registration requirements on local authority homes, and the ten that were below standard are now further behind the standards that will be required of them by 2007. If they remain as they are they will have to close as homes for older people by that date. The transfer took place to allow OCP to raise the capital to fund a refurbishment programme.
2. The future of three such homes has already been consulted upon and development plans agreed. The remaining seven homes require an agreed process to resolve their future development. Three weeks ago a group of senior Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Care Partnership officers met to consider the best methods and process for achieving the re-provisioning programme. This report summarises their recommendations.

Re-development Objectives

3. The purpose of the re-provisioning strategy and the resultant consultation process will be to achieve three broad objectives:

1. Re-shape existing services so that they better meet the ‘modernisation’ agenda for older peoples services;
2. Satisfy the broad contractual and commercial requirements of the 25 year contract between Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Care Partnership;
3. Provide an opportunity for all stakeholders to contribute to the redevelopment strategy and, by means of clear proposals, resolve the future of each home.
   
   

Contractual Obligations Regarding Service Re-provisioning

4. The Contract makes it clear that both the County Council and OCP should work together to agree the scope and extent of a re-provisioning programme during the nine months following the Contract commencement. This joint work is time-tabled in paragraph 8 (i) below and involves the preparation of a Re-provisioning Strategy by a joint working group described further in Annex 2.
5. The Contract also makes it clear that both the County Council and Oxfordshire Care Partnership shall agree and implement a programme of consultation with each resident or day care client, or their representative or relative in relation to any re-provisioning proposal which has been identified in principle. This obligation is covered in paragraph 8 (ii) below, which recommends a three month period of formal consultation from October 2002. It is suggested this consultation not only involves the homes concerned but all other partners and stakeholders with whom the County Council works in developing services for older people.
6. Following the above consultations and Executive decisions resulting from it, the Contract further requires that the Oxfordshire Care Partnership prepares detailed development plans for the re-provisioning of each relevant home. These plans, which may also include further details of specific and additional consultations with residents, will need to be approved by the County Council who can also request amendments to such plans. This process of detailed proposals, consultations and implementation plans per home will take place between March 2003 to March 2007.

The Service Context for Re-provisioning

7. The redevelopment programme will need a dedicated process and decision making framework if it is to maximise the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to create new services. In doing so, the redevelopment team will need to consider how best to balance the context of the following (and sometimes competing) service aims:

• The need to replace some 400 beds but on fewer sites.
• The need to rebalance services from North to South.
• The need to provider greater levels of high dependency care / nursing care including specialist services for older people with serious mental health needs.
• To examine the contribution of ‘intermediate care’ services in providing alternatives to long stay care for a greater number of Clients.
• To examine the contribution of Very Sheltered Housing as a preferred alternative to ‘lower dependency’ residential care.
• To develop services which comply with partnership objectives with health, housing and other independent services providers.
• To maintain some 400 care worker jobs and consider potential re-training issues.
• To provide minimum service disruption through carefully phrased developments.
• To maintain the future viability of any new service.

8. Working backwards, the final home redevelopment needs to be started on-site by late 2005. With the practicality of two homes being built per year then the future of the remaining 7 homes needs resolution before the start of 2003/2004.

The proposed timetable is as follows:

(i)	Now to September 2002	Production of re-provisioning strategy for consultation
(Ii)	October 2002 to January 2003	Formal consultation by the County Council on re-provisioning strategy, all homes and other stakeholders
I(ii)	February 2002	Final Executive approval for (amended?) strategy
(Iv)	March 2003 to March 2007	Local consultation with each home and detailed implementation / site acquisition

Proposed Process for Strategy Development and Decision Making

9. The decision making structure within Oxfordshire County Council is proposed as at Annex 1. This describes a Social Services Board comprising the Director of Social Services and Executive Member plus an Assistant Director, an Assistant County Treasurer, and the Community Care Contract Manager for this service, Nigel Holmes. The Board will in turn oversee the workings of a Project Group (including OCP) which will drive the delivery of the re-provisioning programme and ensure appropriate links with other partners.
10. It is also recommended that a Member/Officer Working Group be established to advise the Executive throughout the re-provisioning programme. A similar group existed during the Homes for Older People contract negotiation phase and proved to be a valuable and successful part of that process.
11. It has also been proposed that a specific and time-limited working group be created to generate the detailed needs analysis and local option appraisal required for the production of a ‘Re-provisioning Strategy Consultation Report.’ This will need to conclude its work by September this year. The working group, led by Nigel Holmes, will report to the Project Group. The composition and task of this working group is described in more detail in Annex 2.

RECOMMENDATIONS

12. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:-

1. approve the timetable set out in the report for receiving, considering and consulting on the proposed development programme;
2. establish a Member/Officer Wrking Goup to advise the Executive on all aspects of a development programme from now up to the completion of the programme, the Group to comprise such members as the Executive may determine, together with appropriate Social Services and other officers.

MARY ROBERTSON
Director of Social Services

Background Papers: Nil

Contact Officers: Nick Welch, Assistant Director Tel: 01865 815714

April 2002

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