Commissioning of External Advice and Information Services 2023-25
North Lanarkshire Council · 3 February 2023
Back to Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee — 3 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref : AG/JC Date 03/02/23 Commissioning of External Advice and Information Services 2023-25 From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer E-mail gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary The purpose of the report is to inform Committee of proposals for the continued funding of external advice and information services for the period April 2023 to March 2025, and to seek approval for the allocation of grant funding to the recommended applicants as detailed in Section 2.8 of the report. The report provides background on the arrangements made for the commissioning of external advice and information services further to the comprehensive review of information and advice services undertaken by the council in 2016/17 and the approach to re- commissioning for provision of these services from April 2021. This has been continued and underpins the current process. The focus for external commissioning of information and advice services remains to provide Welfare Rights and Money Advice at Scottish National Standards (SNS) level I and housing advice at SNS level 1 to the residents of North Lanarkshire on behalf of the Council. Funding, which is proposed to continue at the current level. is divided into six ‘pots’ linked to delivery for each of the main localities (Cumbernauld, Airdrie, Coatbridge, Bellshill, Motherwell and Wishaw) with each pot equating to £61,120 per year. From 2021 NHSL has also provided additional funding for Financial Link Workers within external information and advice services to work with local GP Practices/Primary Care as part of a programme to enhance access to financial advice and support as a key influence on health and wellbeing. This provides additional funding of 100k per year which is split and added to the 6 pots of local authority funding allowing support to be commissioned through a single process. Details of the assessment process and scoring matrix are set out in Appendices 1 & 2 of this report. Recommendations It is recommended that the Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee: (1) Approve the allocation of funding to the recommended applicants for provision of external advice and information services for the period 2023-2025, as set out in section 2.8 of this report.
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The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (11) Increase economic opportunities for adults by understanding, identifying, and addressing the causes of poverty and deprivation and barriers to financial inclusion
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1. Background 1.1 Following the council’s Review of Advice and Information Services in 2016/17, the Infrastructure Committee approved the new commissioning model on 8th November 2017. This introduced a competitive grant funding model for the commissioning of external advice services. Committee also agreed a total budget allocation for these services of £432, 734 1.2 The review had sought the views of key stakeholders including all internal benefit and advice services as well as the then ten externally funded third sector services on the following three options: • outsourcing all advice services to the third sector: • a mixed economy of both internal council services and third sector alternatives; and • a wholly ‘in-house’ service provided by the council. The mixed economy option was supported by the majority of all respondents to the review as the best option for future service delivery. The review recommended that externally provided Advice and Information Services could best be provided in future by adopting a commissioning model that would provide a standardised service to all NLC residents who may choose not to use council services. This would ensure a sustainable, responsive, and effective means of providing advice and support to our communities across North Lanarkshire. 1.3 A short life working group to develop the commissioning model involved representatives from a range of council services and the external advice sector. The group analysed all of the relevant data and established a formula that would allocate funding for external services across the 6 localities based on the need however having found only marginal differences across the 6 localities it was subsequently concluded that the funding should be divided equally across the 6 locality areas. 1.4 Work was undertaken in partnership with colleagues in legal services and procurement to draft a grant funding application, guidance on how to complete the application form, locality profiles, service specifications and a funding agreement for all 6 localities to support a competitive grant process open to all third-party organisations in the North Lanarkshire Information and Advice Network. 1.5 Provision of the funding was based on capacity to deliver key outcomes and the provision of performance information to support monitoring with details of the outcomes and the conditions of the funding contained within Service Level Agreements. 1.6 Under the new commissioning model introduced by the Council, the external advice services were commissioned to provide welfare benefit advice (Type 2) and housing and money advice (Type 1) as per the Scottish National Standards for Advice and Information Providers in the 6 localities. 1.7 Following the process, Airdrie CAB, Bellshill CAB, Coatbridge CAB, Cumbernauld CAB and Motherwell and Wishaw CAB were the successful applicants. 1.8 The new services were implemented on 1st April 2018, with Service Level Agreements for 3 years, ending on 31st March 2021. 1.9 The recommissioning process was delayed in 2020/21 due to the pandemic and was completed again in 2021, for 2021 to 2023. As part of the Council savings exercise for
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2021 to 2023, the funding for the external advice services was reduced from £72,120 per locality to £61,120 per locality. 1.10 On 23rd August 2021, the Community Empowerment Committee approved the successful applicants. Airdrie CAB, Bellshill CAB, Coatbridge CAB, Cumbernauld CAB and Motherwell and Wishaw CAB were again the successful applicants. 2. Report 2.1 The focus for the council’s external commissioning of information and advice services remains to provide Welfare Rights and Money Advice at SNS level I and housing at SNS level 1 to the residents of North Lanarkshire. In view of continuing need within communities, in particular linked with the current cost of living crisis, but also in consideration of the wider financial pressures on the local authority it is proposed that funding is maintained at the current level and that as previously this is divided into six ‘pots’ linked to delivery for each of the main localities (Cumbernauld, Airdrie, Coatbridge, Bellshill, Motherwell and Wishaw) with each pot equating to £61,120 per year. 2.2 All members of the North Lanarkshire Advice and Information Network (NLAN) were invited to apply for funding for the provision of external advice and information services and applications were issued on 26th September 2022, with the Tackling Poverty Team support and advice available to applicants on request. All applications were returned by the deadline of 18th November 2022. 2.3 Only 5 Organisations submitted applications, Airdrie CAB, Bellshill CAB, Coatbridge CAB, Cumbernauld CAB and Motherwell and Wishaw CAB. 2.4 Guidance for assessing the applications was developed by the Tackling Poverty Team including a scoring metric which was used by the assessors. The applications were assessed using the scoring matrix/assessment guidance by 3 assessors, two from North Lanarkshire Council and one from NHS Lanarkshire, each assessor individually scored each application and then met as a panel on 19th December 2022, to agree the successful applicant (s). NHS Lanarkshire (Financial Link Workers) 2.5 NHS Lanarkshire implemented the Community Link Worker Programme as part of its Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP), in 2021, with the aim to ensure that patients access appropriate non-medical support and its links with the range of supports that the PCIP will introduce. The Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP) requires Financial Wellbeing Advice to be available to successfully deliver the Community Link Worker (CLW) Programme to allocate appropriately triaged referrals received from a Community Link Worker or GP via the agreed referral pathway. 2.6 Following discussions between NHS Lanarkshire’s Health Improvement Team and the Council it was agreed by both NHSL and the Council’s Corporate Management Team, that just over 50% if this funding be allocated to expand the Tackling Poverty (then named Financial Inclusion) Team to enhance the joint working arrangements for advice and information between the Council, Health and Social Care and NHS improving the capacity to respond effectively to increased referrals from primary care. It was also agreed that the balance of funding be allocated to external advice and information providers for link worker provision in each locality.
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2.7 NHS Lanarkshire funding for the programme is £212,000 per year of which £100,000 is allocated to external providers. This is additional to the council funding referenced at 2.1 above but has from 2021 been allocated through the same commissioning process and it is proposed this continue for the period 2023 -2025. Successful Applicants 2.8 Under the terms of the Council’s assessment process (for reference, Appendix 1 of this report set out the details of this), the following providers are the recommended providers for each locality to provide Type 2 welfare benefits advice and Type 1 housing and money advice as per the Scottish National Standards for Advice and Information Providers for April 2023 - March 2025, (Appendix 2 of this report contains the scoring matrix setting out the full outcome of this scoring process): Airdrie - Airdrie CAB Bellshill - Bellshill CAB Coatbridge - Coatbridge CAB Cumbernauld - Cumbernauld CAB Motherwell - Motherwell and Wishaw CAB Wishaw - Motherwell and Wishaw CAB 3. Measures of success 3.1 Successful delivery of Advice and Information by External Advice Services on behalf of the Council. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1 - Advice and Information Services 2023 –2025 Scoring Guidance Appendix 2 - Advice and Information Services 2023 –2025 Scoring Matrix Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? No groups will be disadvantaged or excluded through the implementation of the recommendations of the report. Indeed, the recommendation presents an opportunity to promote equality and ensure greater access to public services. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? This is the third commissioning process of the external services since 2018. A change in the Service Level Agreement in relation to funding levels was made in 2021 with a reduction applied to the overall budget as part of the savings exercise in 2021. It is proposed to maintain local authority funding at current levels £366, 720 per annum split into 6 pots for the period April 2023 – March 2025 NHS Lanarkshire will continue to provide the Tackling Poverty Team with 212,000 per annum over this period of which 100k will allocated to external providers for Financial Link Worker provision. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? This is the third commissioning process of the External Services since 2018, with Legal Services and Procurement agreeing the legal impacts, processes and
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requirements etc. There has been no change in the Service Level Agreement other than funding levels, since 2018. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The provision of the delivery of Advice and Information by External Advice Services continues to be considered in terms of the measures identified to reduce the impact of poverty in our communities in line with the Corporate Tackling Poverty risk. The risk rating will be unaffected by the outcome of the commissioning process set out within this report. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)?
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.
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Appendix 1 INTRODUCTION AND TIMESCALES This document contains guidance on the scoring process in general and more specifically on completing the Scoring Matrix in regards to applications from NLAN members in relation to Competitive Partnership Grant Funding 2023 – 25. A timetable has been prepared for the application, assessment and decision making processes as follows; Deadline for the submission of applications 18th November 2022 Applications sent to Independent Assessors 21st November 2022 Independent Assessors to be completed 9th December 2022 Scoring Panel prioritises the applications 19th December 2022 Draft committee report to be ready for the Head of Service 17th December 2022 Committee Report for Approval 3rd February 2023 SCORING PROCESS The scoring process will use a standard format to assess applications, which in turn will lead to Competitive Funding Grant recommendations. The purpose of this assessment is to: - Ensure that funding is directed to towards activities that contribute to or enhance the councils key priorities; Ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and undergo the same processes in determining whether or not they are funded, and That any inherent “risks” involved in providing such funding is taken into consideration and appropriate measures to limit those “risks” are put in place if necessary. A panel of officers will be convened in order to undertake the scoring by examining the purpose of the application and the performance of applicant organisation. Each applicant should be ‘scored’ by at least 3 panel members with representatives from both funding bodies; North Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire. The Scoring Panel will draw on evidence from the application form and any supporting evidence from the Provider. Partnership Application Form Funding for Advice and Information Services 2023 - 2025
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Applications will be scored independently by Officer followed by an open discussion involving all of the panel members and the key elements of this discussion along with the agreed score form the official record of the decision. Panel members are asked to score strictly in accordance with the evidence produced and not make assumptions on behalf of the organisation or any of the reporting officers, however, some allowances should be made for organisations who might have experienced difficulties in filling out the forms or understanding our priorities Panel members are asked to complete a Scoring Matrix for each application. A scoring matrix will be sent to each panel member with the names of each organisation marked on the bottom tab. A general debate about the suggested score should take place involving all the panel members before a final score is agreed on. The key elements of this debate should be recorded for future reference. SCORING PROCESS Section 3 - Reporting Requirements Within this section the application form should be able to identify if the organisation is or is not able to provide the monitoring information. No score should be awarded if the organisation answers it can be provided but does not state the source i.e. The recording system. Section 4 – Priorities The scoring panel should be familiar with the corporate plan, the Tackling Poverty Strategy and the Local Child Poverty Action Report and consider all answers in relation to this. The organisation should demonstrate a good understanding of each of these and how they will contribute to these plans. Whilst organisations may be currently limited in how they deliver services currently, the organisation should consider how they will reach the community post covid. The organisation must show how they will resource and work in partnership with the Community Link Work programme. Section 5 – Delivery of Services Connections in the local community are important, whilst services are being delivered remotely during the pandemic, the organisation must demonstrate how they will service the community they are making an application for. The organisation must demonstrate the balance between the traditional advice service (face to face) and the digital advances that can be made in service delivery. Section 6 – Financial Information The organisation should demonstrate how they will use the funding via NL and NHSL – the application should be scored accordingly. It is important the organisation identifies other funding – the assessor should consider how this will compliment current funding and help sustain the organisation. Section 7 – Volunteers Volunteers are important in the delivery of third sector services and the organisation should demonstrate the investment in training and supporting.
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Appendix 2 Overall Scoresheet – 2023/25 Service Overall Score Airdrie Citizens Advice Bureau 83% Bellshill Citizens Advice Bureau 67% Coatbridge Citizens Advice Bureau 76% Cumbernauld Citizens Advice Bureau 70% Motherwell Citizens Advice Bureau 93% Wishaw Advice Bureau 93%