As part of its wider personalisation agenda, the City Council's Community Services Directorate wants to change the way adult day centre services and money management services are delivered, with greater emphasis on more personalised services and some switching of resources to this. Significantly, there would also be changes in the types of contract awarded and, subject to tendering outcomes, to the pool of providers delivering these services. Any changes are set within the very difficult financial climate and the high level of savings the Directorate has to make over the coming years (£40m by 2014).

There will undoubtedly be winners and losers as a result of any changes, with some organisations picking up new funding and others facing reductions or de-commissioning. The financial stability of the sector must be maintained if the Council is to retain a varied pool of quality providers, and therefore the risks involved with any changes must be assessed, discussed and shared fairly, particularly as new commissioning mechanisms are being planned instead of block contracts, bringing greater financial uncertainty for providers. This issue of call-off frameworks replacing block contracts has already been flagged up as a major concern by four providers (see last month's e-bulletin) and Compact is proving to be a valuable tool in discussions on how to share risk fairly.

The Council is committed to Compact and there are a large number of points within Coventry's Compact codes on procurement & contracting, commissioning and funding (available at www.vacoventry.org.uk/compact) that are very relevant to this situation, for example ensuring that:

• risk is shared fairly between commissioners and providers, rather than being placed solely on one or the other (with particular regard for organisations less able to take on risk, for example with low levels of reserves)
• timescales for the process are reasonable, both for the tendering process and for the starting up, reduction or shutting down of services, particularly for organisations less able to take on risk, and allowing for redundancy processes where necessary to be properly planned and implemented
• communications are in place with existing providers to ensure that they fully understand why the service is being competitively tendered and what the process will be
• providers less experienced in preparing tenders have plenty of opportunity to ask questions before the tender process, e.g. through pre-tender briefings and training workshops (open to all potential tenderers)
• the implications of any commissioning or de-commissioning decisions on other services and organisations are considered
• meaningful and genuine consultation is held with existing and potential providers to check that proposed targets and outcomes are realistic and achievable
• there is transparency by being clear on the process, timelines, deadlines, and what the process will be for scoring tenders

Providers for their part need to:

• recognise that there will be change and engage robustly with commissioners to shape that change and ensure good and sustainable outcomes for service users
• recognise the importance of the personalisation agenda and its impact on how their own services will be delivered in future if they are to remain in the local market, and be prepared to adapt accordingly
• take reasonable steps to ensure that the commissioning or de-commissioning of services is managed smoothly and risk is shared fairly
• ensure that they have an exit strategy prepared including assessing potential redundancy costs and processes

The Council is holding an event to give current and potential providers the opportunity not only to be briefed on the Council's rationale and desired outcomes from these changes, but also to discuss their issues and perspectives with commissioners and give strong and informed feedback on any proposals