Contract Management Briefing Paper

ThisbriefingpaperprovidesanoverviewoftheSupportingPeople(SP)Contract ManagementFramework.Ithasalsobeenpreparedtoprovidepracticaladviceand guidancetoprovidersofSPfundedservices.

Contents
Aims&ObjectivesofContractManagement ............................................................... 3 GroupingServicesforthePurposesofContractManagement .................................... 4 StepsinContractManagement .................................................................................... 5 Step1AnnualReturns............................................................................................ 5 Step2RiskAssessment ........................................................................................... 5 Step3ContractManagementActivity ................................................................... 7 ServiceUpdates............................................................................................................. 8 ContractMeetings......................................................................................................... 9 ValidationVisits........................................................................................................... 10 PerformanceVisits ...................................................................................................... 11 ManagingtheRelationship ......................................................................................... 12 SPLeadOfficer ........................................................................................................ 12 ProviderNominatedLeadOfficer ........................................................................... 12 StandardDocumentation............................................................................................ 13 UsefulContacts ........................................................................................................... 14

Aims & Objectives of Contract Management

Theoverallaimofthecontractmanagementframeworkistoprovideasupportive frameworkinwhichprovidersareenabledtodeliverexcellentservicestovulnerable peopleinpartnershipwithSP. Theobjectivesoftheframeworkaretoensurethatservicesaredeliveredassetoutinthe fundingagreementby: EnsuringagoodSPteam/providerrelationshipwithclarityonroles,responsibility andcommunications EnsuringtheSPgrantisspenteffectivelyoneligibleserviceswhichcontributetothe aimoftheSPstrategyandthatvalueformoneyismaintained Ensuringthatservicesaredeliveringtherequiredoutcomesforserviceusersthrough thesupportplanningprocess Achievingcontinuousimprovementinqualityandperformanceoverthelifeofthe fundingagreement Ensuringanyrisktothefundingagreementisreducedandmanagedeffectively Notification of contract regime Service /Service Improvement Plan updates Risk Performance Matrix Contract Visits as required updated meetings

Routine Validation visit Annual returns Outcomes of contract meetings Validation visit report
Thestartingpointoftheprocessisthesubmissionofannualreturnsfromprovidersfor groupsofservices.

Grouping Services for the Purposes of Contract Management

Forthepurposesofdeterminingandimplementingcontractmanagementactivity,services of1provideraregrouped(forsingleschemeprovidersthissingleservicewillrepresentthe group).Thisgroupingwillbebasedonsimilarservicesintermsofoperatingarea,client grouptheyaredeliveredtoandcommonmanagementstructure.Anexampleofhow groupsofservicesofatypicalprovidermaybegroupedisshownbelow.Inthisexample theproviderreceivesfundingfor9services,butthereareonly4groupsforcontract managementpurposes: Area Scheme Name Service1 Service2 Service3 Service4 Service5 Service6 Service7 Service8 Service9 9Services Client Population Homeless Homeless Homeless Addictions Addictions Older People Older People Older People Older People ServiceType Contract Management Group 1 1 1 2 2

Belfast Belfast Belfast West West West West West North East Totals

Supported Accommodation Supported Accommodation FloatingSupport Supported Accommodation FloatingSupport

ShelteredAccommodation 3 PeripateticService 3

ShelteredAccommodation 3 ShelteredAccommodation 4 4groups

Steps in Contract Management

Step1AnnualReturns
Thestartingpointofthecontractmanagementprocessisthesubmissionofannual returns,forthegroupofservices,forthefollowing: Strategicrelevance QAFselfassessment ServiceImprovementPlan Thedocumentationtocompletethesereturnsisavailableonourwebsite. AswellassubmittingtheStrategicRelevanceandQAFselfassessment(includingtheQAF evidenceindexform)returns,providersneedtosubmitanannualserviceimprovementplan foreachgroupofservices.Thisplanshouldincludetheactionsnecessarytoeitherachieve minimumqualitystandardsagainsteachofthecoreobjectivesoftheQAF,orifappropriate thehighergradesoftheQAF.Thefirstannualserviceimprovementplanshouldalsoreflect progresstowardsanyrecommendationsfrompreviousservicesreviewsorwhereservices havenotbeenreviewed,otherrelevantserviceimprovementsagreedwithSP.Subsequent annualserviceimprovementplans,shouldreflectrequiredserviceimprovementsidentified throughthecontractmanagementprocess.Theplanwillbereviewedandapprovedbythe providerandSPateachcontractmeeting. Providerswillbenotifiedinwritingofthecommencementofthecontractmanagement arrangementsforeachgroupofserviceswiththerequestforthesubmissionoftheannual returns.Followingthisinitiationofthecontractmanagementprocess,providerswillhave20 workingdaystosubmittheirannualreturns. Theinformationfromtheannualreturnswillbeusedtoreviewthecurrentriskratingof thegroupofservicesthroughthecompletionofariskmatrix.Itwillalsoformthe substantiveissuestobediscussedatregularcontractmeetingsandshouldprovidethe evidencebaseforthevalidationoftheseservicesbySP.

Step2RiskAssessment
Themanagementofriskisfundamentaltothecontractmanagementapproach.Itis recognisedthatnotallservicescarryanequalamountofriskorthesamelevelof requirementforSPoversightandmonitoring.SPwillseektoensurethatthecontract managementactivityisproportionatebyundertakingariskassessmentofgroupsof servicesofeachprovider. Anumberofriskfactorswillbeconsideredaspartofthisassessment,includingfinancial, performance,qualityandgeneralservicefactors.Eachriskitemisweightedandscoredand willbeappliedtogroupsofcontracts(groupsaredefinedas1ormoresimilarservicesof1 provider).Thetablebelowprovidesasummaryofthefactorsincludedintherisk assessment,undereachthecategoriesarelistedaccordingtotheirweightingintherisk assessment,fromlowtohigh.

 RiskFactor Financial Measure Categories

AnnualContractValueforGroup 099,999 100,000299,999 300,000574,999 575,000andover Full/Lite/Passported Reaccreditationunderway Notcurrentlyaccredited 5schemesorfewer 610schemes 1115schemes 16ormoreschemes Relevancefullydemonstrated Relevancemainlydemonstrated Relevancepartlydemonstrated Relevancenotdemonstrated Targetsachieved Morethan50%progressagainst targets Lessthan50%progressagainst targets Noprogress Meetsorexceedsbenchmarks Doesnotmeetbenchmarksfor1or morequartersinlast12months Meetsorexceedsbenchmark Doesnotmeetbenchmarkfor3 consecutivemonthsinlast12 months 6

Organisational AccreditationStatus Viability Complexityof Group Strategic Relevance Performance Numberofschemesingroup Annualselfassessment Progressagainstimprovement plantargets Serviceperformanceindicators (accommodation) DirectSupport(Floating Support)

 Quality Discretionary Factors(can increaseor decrease overallrisk score) AnnualSelfAssessment Servicespecificfactors GradesA&Bforallcoreobjectives GradesCorhigherforallcore objectives GradesdonotexceedCforany coreobjective GradeDfor1ormorecore objective Discretionaryweightingapplied duetoservicespecificfactors, includingcomplexityofclient group,jointfundingissues, innovationandgoodpracticeetc.

Discretionaryweightingappliedas thereisareporttoSPwhich requiresinvestigation Theriskscoreisnotnecessarilyareflectionofqualityorperformance.Aservicesmaybe performingwellandbeofhighqualityandmaystillbeassessedashighrisk,duetothe complexityoftheclientgroupitprovidesforandthehighvalueofthefundingitreceives fromSP. Providerswillbenotifiedinwriting,within20workingdaysofreceiptoftheirannual returns,oftheoutcomeofthisriskassessmentforeachoftheirgroupsofservices includingthespecificcontractmanagementregimetobeimplementedforthegroup,in theyear.

CriticalIncidents

Step3ContractManagementActivity
Theriskassessmentscorewilldeterminetheintensityofthecontractmanagement activitywithservicesbeingassessedasrequiringalight,moderateoractivecontract managementapproach. Allservices,regardlessoftheirriskassessment,willberequiredtosubmitannualreturnsas detailedabove.Inadditional,quarterlycontractperformancereturnsforaccommodation servicesandmonthlyfloatingsupportmonitoringreturnswillstillberequiredforindividual services. Otheractivitieswhichmakeupthecontractmanagementprocessare: Serviceupdates ContractMeetings ValidationVisits PerformanceVisits Adescriptionofeachisprovidedbelow,includingthetypicallevelsoftheseactivities,based onwhetheragrouphasbeenassessedasrequiringalight,moderateoractiveapproach.

Service Updates
Providerswillberequiredtosubmitserviceupdates,byemailorbyposttotheSP Administrationteam,foreachgroupofservices,whichwillbereviewedatthecontract meeting.Theseserviceupdatesshouldbemadeupof: Progressupdatesagainsttargetswithintheagreedannualserviceimprovementplan PerformanceinformationspecifiedandagreedwithSPatthefirstcontractmeeting, butwhichshouldreflectinformationalreadycollectedandreportedwithinthe providerorganisation. Thelistbelowprovidesexamplesofperformanceinformationwhichcouldformthiselement oftheserviceupdates.Whiletheselectionofthisinformationwillbeatthediscretionofthe provider,SPwillseektoconfirmthatitreflectsthemainaspectsofservicedelivery, includingoperationaldelivery,staffmanagementanddevelopment,financialperformance andserviceuserinvolvement/satisfaction. PerformanceArea Operations Financial Staff Management/Development ServiceUsers Measure No.ofreferrals&no.acceptedtoreceivesupport No.ofserviceusersexitedservice Capacity/Availableunits Averagetimefromreferraltoassessment Numberofaccidents NumberofIncidents NumberofComplaints BudgetCompliance VarianceAnalysis BudgetedhousingsupportstaffhoursversusActual housingsupporthoursworked Staffturnover Staffsickleave Staffmandatorytraining Staffprofessionaldevelopment Serviceusersatisfaction

Serviceuserinvolvement Theseserviceupdateswillberequiredforeachgroupofservicesregardlessoftheoutcome oftheriskassessment.Thecontentoftheserviceupdateswillbeagreedinadvanceofthe firstcontractmeetingandproviderswillbeaskedtoconsidertherangeofpossible informationtobeincludedonreceiptofthecontractregimenotificationletter.

Contract Meetings
ThecontractmanagementprocessseekstoformalisethecurrentrelationshipwithSP providersbyclarifyingrolesandresponsibilitiesandintroducingaformalmechanismfor bilateraldiscussionatthecontractmeeting.Thecontractmeetingwillbetheprimary forumtodiscussallmainissuesrelevanttothefundingagreementsoftheservices includedinthegroup. Thefrequencyofcontractmeetingswillbedeterminedbytheriskscore.Themeetingswill beformallychaired,haveastandardagendaandtheiroutcomerecorded.Forparticular servicesitmayalsobeappropriateforrelevantstakeholderstoattendthesemeetings,for exampleifservicesarejointlyfunded. Theinformationrequiredfromprovidersfordiscussionatthecontractmeetingswas outlinedinearliersections.However,ifappropriate,providersmayalsowishtotable additionaldocumentaryevidenceforparticularareas. Aspreviouslystatedthesemeetingswillbeheldatthegrouplevel,soforexampleif5 servicesof1providerformthegroup,themeetingwillseektodiscussall5services. Thesetagendaforthemeetingswillbejointlyagreedwiththeproviderfollowingthefirst meeting,howeverSPwillseekforthefollowingitemstobereflected. Updatestoserviceinformation/improvementplans QAFassessment Performance Stakeholdersfeedback ServiceUserinvolvement ValueforMoney Contractnegotiations Complaintsandconcerns Providersmayalsowishtoseeparticularissuesreflectedwhicharerelevanttothem. SPwillberesponsiblefornotifyingprovidersofwhenthecontractmeetingwilltakeplace andproducingallnecessarydocumentationincludingtheagendaandagreednotesofthe meeting.ThemeetingsmaybeheldatSPsofficesoratparticularservicelocations.Where acontractmeetingisheldataschemeitgivestheopportunitytoverifydataprovidedand combinethemeetingwiththevalidationvisit,ifappropriate. Theregularityofthesemeetingswillbedeterminedbytheclassificationofthegroupsas requiringalight,moderateoractiveapproach. LightContractManagementApproach1meetingeveryotheryear ModerateContractManagementApproach12meetingseveryyear ActiveContractManagementApproach23meetingseveryyear Providerswillbenotifiedofthescheduleforcontractmeetingsfortheirgroupsofservices withinthecontractmanagementregimenotificationletter.

Validation Visits
Thepurposeofthevalidationvisitistoensurethatthequalityoftheservicedeliveryis improvinginlinewiththeQAF,aswellasensuringthatservicescontinuetomeetstrategic objectivesandremaineligibleforSPfunding. Providerswillbegivenatleast20workingdaysnoticeofavalidationvisit,whichwillbe carriedoutat1oftheserviceswithinthegroupandwilltypicallyrequire1workingdayto complete.Theaimofthevisitistovalidatetheprovidersselfassessmentagainststrategic relevance,includingeligibilityandtheQAF.Itwillfollowasimilarformattothevalidation visitcarriedoutaspartoftheformerservicereviewprocess,including Meetingwiththemanager Serviceuserconsultation Staffconsultation Sightofevidencetovalidatethestrategicrelevance&qualityassessmentself assessmentsandtheimplementationoftheserviceimprovementplan Provisionofinitialfeedbacktothemanager Followingavisit,theSPwillreviewtheevidencecollectedandwriteupthefindingsina report.Thereportwilltypicallycontainthefollowing: Astatementastothestrategicrelevanceoftheservice Ageneralassessmentofthequalityandeffectivenessofservicesforserviceusers AnyVFM,eligibilityorcontractcomplianceissues AvalidatedQAFscore Anactionplanandtimetableforimplementationofrecommendations Thereportwillbeissued,within20workingdays,totheproviderforfeedback/comments andifnecessaryafurthermeetingwillbeheldtodiscussthefindingsinorderto: Identifyactionsthattheproviderneedstotaketoaddresstheissuesraisedinthe reportandactionplan,includingmakingamendmentstotheirexistingservice improvementplan Addressanyinaccuraciescontainedwithinthereport Explainthenextstagesofthecontractmanagementprocessinordertomanageany risksidentifiedduringthevisit Followingthismeetingitmaybenecessarytoupdateandamendthereportandservice improvementplan. Theregularityofvalidationvisitswillbedeterminedbytheclassificationofthegroupsas requiringalight,moderateoractiveapproach. LightContractManagementApproach1visiteveryotheryear ModerateContractManagementApproach1visiteveryotheryear ActiveContractManagementApproach1visiteveryyear Providerswillbenotifiedofthescheduleforvalidationvisitsfortheirgroupsofservices withinthecontractmanagementregimenotificationletter. 10

Performance Visits
Onoccasionsanonroutinevisitmayberequiredwhereaseriousconcernhasbeennoted (e.g.asaresultofacomplaint).Insuchcasesaspotcheckmaybecarriedoutwithout priornotice. Abriefreportwillbewrittenhighlightingthefindingsofthevisitandwillcontainanaction plan.Thiswillbeissuedtoproviderswithin20workingdaysofthevisitandwillfocusonthe issuewhichpromptedthevisitandthefindingsontheday.Thereportwillbefinal,however theproviderwillhavetheopportunitywithinthereporttosubmitfeedbackoranydisputes onthefindings(within20workingdaysfromreceiptofthereportandactionplan). Ifnecessaryafurthermeetingwillbeheldtodiscussthefindingsinorderto: Identifyactionsthattheproviderneedstotaketoaddresstheissuesraisedinthe reportandactionplan,includingmakingamendmentstotheirexistingservice improvementplan Explainthenextstagesofthecontractmanagementprocessinordertomanageany risksidentifiedduringthevisit. Thesevisitswillbecarriedoutonanasrequiredbasisandarethereforenotlinkedto theannualriskassessment.However,theoutcomeofanysuchvisitswillbefedintothe annualreviewoftheriskassessmentforthegroupofservices,ifappropriate.

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Managing the Relationship

Afundamentalobjectiveofthecontractmanagementprocessistoensurethatthereisan openandconstructiverelationshipbetweentheproviderandSP,aimingtoidentifyand resolveproblemsorissuesearly. Theintentionistocreatearelationshipbasedoncooperationandpartnershipsetwithin thecontextofcommercialreality.Eachpartywillnominatealeadofficertoformally managethefundingagreementattheappropriatebusinesslevelontheirbehalf.Changes tothefundingagreement,monitoringofservicedeliveryandmostissuesthatarisewill occurandbedealtwithatthislevel.

SPLeadOfficer
Foreachofthe5NIHEAreasthereisaLeadOfficerforSP(twoinBelfast),whoisresponsible fortheimplementationofthecontractmanagementarrangementsintheirrespectiveareas. EachLeadOfficerwillalsohavedesignatedsupportstafftoassistintheimplementationof thecontractmanagementprocess. TheSPLeadOfficerwill Manageandoverseegroupsoffundingagreementswithprovidersintheirarea FulfilSPsroleandresponsibilitiesinrelationtothedeliveryofthefunding agreement Monitorperformanceandfundingagreementcompliance Attend&chaircontractmanagementmeetings Carryoutvalidationvisits Carryoutperformancevisitswherenecessary EscalateproblemswithinSPwherenecessary

ProviderNominatedLeadOfficer
EachproviderwillbeaskedtonominateacorrespondingLeadofficerforeachoftheir groupsofserviceswhowillactasthemainrepresentative/liaisonwithSP.However, individualservicemanagerswillbeabletoattendthecontractmeetingsandvisits,fortheir specificservices,atthediscretionoftheprovider. TheProviderLeadOfficerwill MonitorcontractperformanceandreportstoSP Representtheprovidersinterests Attendcontractmeetings Negotiateandtakeremedialactionswherenecessary Escalateproblemswithintheirorganisationasnecessary.

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Standard Documentation
Allofthedocumentationassociatedwiththecontractmanagementprocessisavailable fromtheSPsectionoftheNIHEswebsite,underContractManagement. Thisincludes: ContractManagementBriefingPaper StrategicRelevanceAssessmentForm QualityAssessmentFramework QualityAssessmentSummarySheet SampleServiceImprovementPlan SampleContractMeetingAgenda SampleValidationVisitAgenda Providerswillreceivelettersconfirmingtheinitiationofthecontractmanagementprocess forspecificgroupsofservicesandrequestingthesubmissionoftheirannualreturnsfor thesegroups.Thisisthestartoftheprocess. TheSPAdministrationTeamwillcoordinatetheissuingofrequestsforandreceiptofannual returnsandquarterlyserviceupdates.AnyinformationrequestedbySPshouldpreferably beemailed(supportingpeople@nihe.gov.uk)butcanalsobepostedto: SPAdministrationTeam SupportingPeople 3rdFloor HousingCentre 2AdelaideStreet Belfast BT28PB

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Useful Contacts
TheAreaLeadofficersforSPwillberesponsiblefortheimplementationofthenew arrangementsintheirrespectiveareasandwillbethemaincontactsforanyspecific queriesoncetheframeworkbecomesoperationalintheirarea. Team BelfastArea Contact LiamOHanlon LeadOfficer BelfastArea NorthEast Area SouthArea JulieAlexander LeadOfficer PamelaStevenson LeadOfficer EamonMullan LeadOfficer SouthEast Area WestArea DonalBrereton LeadOfficer LouiseClarke LeadOfficer louise.clarke@nihe.gov.uk (028)90318790 donal.brereton@nihe.gov.uk (028)90318801 eamon.mullan@nihe.gov.uk (028)90318749 pamela.stevenson@nihe.gov.uk (028)90318568 julie.alexander@nihe.gov.uk (028)90318819 Email liam.ohanlon@nihe.gov.uk Telephone (028)90318381

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