Building A Structured Approach To Contract Management

1. Building A Structured Approach To Contract Management Created By: James Sinclair and Tracey Watts

2. Our Vision To develop an innovative, flexible and competitive market capable of meeting the local needs of SCF and providing excellent value. To ensure the Authority's commercial and social interests are protected through clear contracts and that suppliers' performance is monitored to ensure excellence and continuous improvement for our customers We will achieve this whilst promoting our values of: • Focussing on our customer (both ECC and the end user) and proactively driving improvements to their service • Enabling and empowering these customers • Maintaining honesty, integrity and approachability

3. In practice this means we will need to: Ensure we have recognisable contracts in place for all of our spend, starting this process with our high spend and high risk areas Ensure those contracts have adequate and appropriate performance indicators in place which measure how our suppliers support our children to grow and develop in their time with the supplier and that we actually measure and react to these Have a clear and well defined structure for dealing with contract queries and performance issues, with all relevant parties consulted at the right time and with the right information so concerns are never lost Understand our suppliers, to ensure we are aware of any commercial risks in their organisation which could stop or impact on them providing care for our children and respond to these risks appropriately before they get out of hand. Understand how much care actually costs, discussing this with our suppliers and working with them and our internal care experts to take cost out where possible and appropriate. Communicate - Discuss our needs/ new ways of doing things/ anything of use with our suppliers, peers and others.

4. Step 1 – Understanding our suppliers and contracts

5. Tiering our areas of spend: In consultation with service area and use of the contract register we identified our key areas of spend and the contracts we had in place in these areas Definitions Strategic Residential Homes Significant Risk Risk of harm to child if service is not performed or quality is poor CWD Resi - Respite CWD Shared Care Residential Education Supported Housing CWD Day Respite Fostering CWD Support MST RISK Maintain Key High Level Family Support Value High Value is defined as £1m per annum or more Advocacy CWD Shortbreaks/ activities/ clubs Children’s Centres EY Quality and Sufficiency Research Wellbeing Survey FIF VALUE

6. Strategic Area: Strategic Note – those tasks in red will only be required for top tier suppliers or alternatively will only be required at longer intervals

7. Significant Area: Significant Note - those tasks in red will only be required for top tier suppliers or alternatively will only be required at longer intervals

8. Key Area: Key

9. Maintain Areas Maintain Area: Maintain

10. Step 2 - Measuring our suppliers

11. The benefits of performance management: • Identifies the aims of the contract • Ensure value for money • Identify poorly performing providers • Ensure remedial actions are identified and completed • Identify providers achieving good performance • Manage risks • Achieve the aims of the contract • Provides valuable information to future contracts • Outcomes and performance indicators

12. Maintain Areas Definition of an outcome: An outcome is the intended result and the reason for commissioning services. E.g. Economic prosperity available to all. Definition of an Indicator: A measure that helps to quantify the achievement of an outcome but is not solely attributable to the provider. E.g. The % of working age people in unemployment across the county.. Performance measure: The specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound targets in place to monitor the performance of a contract. E.g. The % of 16+ young people placed with a provider attending further education, training or in employment. • Outcomes and performance indicators

13. From Hand out Identify the Outcomes, indictors and performance measures from the list provided. • In relation to your own contracts discuss and identify the key outcomes, indictors and performance measures. Each group to feedback 1 example. • Exercise 1 :

14. Maintain Areas Measuring these indicators:

15. Step 3 - A structured approach to how we work

16. An example of how we structure our service: Example of how we INPUT OUTPUT CUSTOMER S I C SUPPLIER PROCESS P o HOME REVIEW PROCESS Visit home, assess and complete form B - confirm whether acceptable Notify key relevant commissioners Organise home review visit Notify Contract Support Officer UPLOADING NEW SUPPLIERS YES YES Supplier Award letter Complete in 24 hours Is price acceptable Send ICC (include breakdown of costs) Review documentation Upload to ARIBA and notify Receive New provider set up template – states urgent/ not Placement Team Is it urgent? ART Team Complete in 3 days Receive acceptance from supplier Contract Manager Send Variant award letter to supplier NO Negotiate MONITORING OF SUPPLIERS Send placement list to Cragg Admin Receive allocation of visits from Cragg Cragg Admin Request to identify what suppliers we have TERMINATING SUPPLIERS Assess reasons for termination against contract terms Receive Termination Form Social Worker Termination Email Customer Contract Manager

17. Step 4 - Managing Risk

18. Exercise 2 – Managing risk • Thinking about your own contracts consider the areas where things could go wrong and identify a list of potential risks. Consider areas such as; • The mobilisation period of the contract • The providers operation • The internal risks • The contractual risks • Safeguarding risks • 10 minutes