The Birmingham Disability Consortium

1. The Birmingham Disability Consortium • Mark MacPearson & Will Thornton Friday 6 May 2011

2. Managing Provider Model • The lead delivers SOME of the services • The lead is the accountable body and issues sub-contracts to BDC members • The lead takes a management fee • Members submit an EOI to join a bid, or agree by committee on who delivers what

3. Who are the BDC? • 7 local disability charities • Action – West Midlands • Midland Mencap • BITA Pathways • Birmingham Disability Resource Centre • BID Services • Birmingham Rathbone • Momentum

4. Our Specialisms • Blind and Partially Sighted • Deaf and Hard of Hearing • Physical Disability • Mental ill Health • Severe Learning Disability • Mild Learning Disability • Acquired Brain Injury • Truly PAN DISABILITY

5. How we knew each other We were already: • Working together informally • Members of BCC Welfare to Work AEG • Delivering services across Birmingham • Pooling resources on other projects • Combining skills and experience • BVSC events • Local networks

6. How did we form? • BCC facilitated a meeting • We agreed a basic aim • We drafted a MoU • We set up a steering group and agreed eligibility criteria • We diarised a calendar of meetings • We formed an identity • The funding search began

7. How the BDC works • Action leads and gives consortium financial stability • Not-for-profit status means all funding goes towards supporting our client groups • Peer group of specialists sharing best practice and referrals across the disability spectrum • Regular Management and Practitioner meetings ensure the quality of our provision • Formal SLA to ensure good governance

8. Action’s role • Collate and present the bid • Single point of contact for BCC • Manage monthly claims • Manage payments to partners • Audit Quality of provision and records • Attend review meetings • Attend Local Provider Forums • Develop marketing via website and promotional materials • Deliver 10% of project outcomes

9. Partner Role • Form Steering Group • Support the bidding process • Deliver the contract outcomes • Support BDC Managers meetings • Support BDC Practitioner meetings • Deliver local marketing and engagement • Feed information to Action, enter data on database, relay good news stories

10. Our Success to Date • WNF in Birmingham • 7 Contracts • Up to £2.5 million over 18 months • Recognised as best practice model by BCC for these contracts • Presentations delivered through BVSC to third sector in Birmingham • Approached by Primes on DWP Framework for SWP, contracts offered

11. Performance • SWOT Analysis • Strengths • Weaknesses • Opportunities • Threats

12. Strengths • Trust and Transparency • Specialist Disability Provision • Geographical Coverage • Action as ‘Prime/Lead’ gave strong leadership • Partnership Approach to decision making • Management AND Practitioner meetings • Commitment and Flexibility of partners

13. Weaknesses • Prime Resource allocation limit • Duplication of engagements at times • Require ALL partners to perrform • Only as strong as the weakest link • More difficult to build the brand

14. Opportunities • A louder voice • Regional opportunity - Extending reach • Develop services from each other • New services eg Personalisation • Influencing and shaping agenda for commissioning • Develop Legal Status to SPV

15. Threats • Legal Status for Primes • Lack of opportunity in new market • Increased competition • Lack of specialist disability contracts • Change of key individuals in partner organisations

16. What we have learned • Transparency and trust are essential • Don’t push partners into gaps • Look for signs of weakness • Keep the communication going • Keep the Consortium tight • Only take new members to improve what you have, or fill identified gaps