Our Ref: FOIDV1731\190312\LB
Commissioning Headquarters
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 4QL
Dave Orr
Dave Orr [xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx]
Tel: 01392 205205
Email:
xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx
www.devonpct.nhs.uk
25 April 2012
Dear Dave
Re: Request for information under Freedom of Information Act 2000
Thank you for your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which was received
on 19 March 2012. You requested the following information.
Have NHS Devon (Devon PCT) undertaken any research or reviewed
public accountability, governance and transparency issues that
arise when non-public bodies win a contract to provide publicly
funded children's services? If so, please provide relevant
documents.
Transforming Community Services is a Department of Health programme which
required PCTs to divest themselves of their directly managed provider services by
1st April 2011. As part of this programme, it was agreed that Integrated Children’s
Services in Devon would be managed on behalf of NHS Devon by Devon County
Council for an interim period of up to 2 years. This agreement was predicated on
the re-commissioning of these services resulting in identification of the long term
provider(s) of these services and safe transfer to new provider(s) by 31st March
2013.
Please see document titled “FOIDV1731_TCS_MOI” specifically page 27.
Does the children's services tender contain any details or
requirements for equivalent public accountability, governance and
transparency to that currently provided & available through the
public bodies currently delivering services? If so, please provide
details.
Will the winning organisation for the children's services tender be
required to be a "public body", so that it falls within the FOI Act
for openness and transparency?
Will the winning organisation for the children's services tender be
required to hold meetings mostly in public (with only genuinely
commercially confidential matters being reserved for a closed
meeting)? Will papers and minutes be published publicly (with only
genuinely commercially confidential matters being redacted)?
If the governance allows for elected Councillors or other Trust
appointees to be Directors on the board of the organisation that
wins the tender, then will they be able to report openly & publicly
on matters of public service and interest? How would any conflict
with Companies Act Director requirements for a private limited
Chairman: David Radford Chief Executive: Ann James
company be dealt with?
The procurement process is still underway and there is no decision at this time on
the new provider of the services.
The provider will not be required to be a public body. The overall responsibility for
the provision of services will remain with the commissioning organisations which
will remain public bodies and hold meetings in public; contract monitoring will lead
to regular reports to the Boards of the respective commissioning organisations
thus maintaining an appropriate level of public scrutiny.
Whichever provider is selected they will be subject to the legal requirements set
out in the NHS Standard Contract. Clause 60.5 of section E of the national
contract covers FOI and Transparency.
“The Provider must assist and co-operate to help the Commissioners fulfil
their FOI obligations. This includes;
The contract itself and any info the Providers hold for the Commissioners.
Any exemption to FOI is a Commissioning decision not a provider one.
Any FOIs received by the provider will be transferred to the Commissioner to
answer within 2 days
Only information classified as confidential by the FOI is exempt from FOI and
the actual contractual agreement is not.
If the contract is to be published the Commissioner does not have to obtain
the providers permission.”
More information can be found by clicking on the following link;
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicy
AndGuidance/DH_131988
There is no current expectation that Councillors or other Trust appointees will
become Directors of the Board for the winning organisation; however, if the
winning organisation makes such an offer in future, appropriate legal advice on
potential conflicts of interest will be taken by the Commissioning bodies before
accepting or declining the offer.
NHS Devon is committed to answering every request for information as fully as possible, and
I hope that you are happy with this response, and that the information provided will be
useful. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Freedom of
Information team on 01392 205205 or
xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx. Yours sincerely
Nick Pearson
Head of Communications for the Cluster of NHS Devon Plymouth and Torbay
I recognise that you may be unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your request and that you
may wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision. If that is the case, please write to: The
Assistant Director of Corporate Affairs, NHS Devon, Commissioning Headquarters, County Hall, Topsham Road,
Exeter, EX2 4QL or
email
xxx.xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx .
If you are still unhappy following our internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information
Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the
Information Commissioner will not investigate your case until the PCT internal review process has been
completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the
Commissioner’s website
, www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk. The Information Commissioner’s address is:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.