Decisions

See attached ODR for full details

To increase the level of resource supporting the re- engagement of children and young people who are missing education or whose parents have opted to electively home educate them.

Further details on the posts can be found within the attached ODR.

Funding for these posts would come from the Opportunity Area Programme.

The Doncaster Opportunity Area Funding is time limited and has to be spent by the 31st August 2021.

A significant safeguarding investigation is taking place within the Borough focused on a provider of Children and Adult’s services. So far, this has highlighted the need to review and explore the records and information on a significant number of young adults.

In order to complete the work within a timely way which will support the wider Police and multiagency investigations we need additional experienced staff capacity to support the work. We have taken 2 experienced members of staff and leadership capacity from our Community Adult Learning Disability Team and Safeguarding. We are now needing to backfill these roles and bolster the capacity available now that the numbers potentially impacted are understood.

The work is likely to take 6 months (minimum) to complete and will be reviewed on a monthly basis in terms of whether the level of capacity continues to be needed. If it is not required then this will addressed to ensure the cost impact is minimised. The rationale for using agency staffing means that contracts can be ceased at short notice as the work reduces over time.

Within adults we are working across multiple placing authorities and CCG’s who are requesting information and regular updates. This is being managed currently via a single inbox which is being overseen and monitored via a Business Support colleague who is reaching in but this is not sustainable for an extended period. In addition there are regular feedback sessions with the relevant authorities and CCG’s which are attended by Adults and Children colleagues.

This work cuts across a range of policy and legislation within the Children’s and Adults arena as well as regulation. As a result we need people who are experienced and understand the frameworks of the arena which they are required to operate in. This means targeting appropriately qualified and experienced staff and we will need some additional resource to ensure we can get this in place.

To temporarily employ (for 6 months) 1 x Advanced Practitioner FTE to provide leadership and oversight of the information pack collection, as well as provide 1:1 supervision and support to the additional Social Work capacity. 4 x Social Workers FTE to undertake the information collation and reviews. In addition they will also undertake any s42 investigations which will be generated retrospectively from the ongoing current reviews. 1 PTE Business Support/ Admin to co-ordinate and oversee the information collation, respond to the requests for information from other LA’s and Partners.

Reasons for the decision are:
- The council are part of a regional collaborative group across 24 authorities that jointly procure a eTendering system for the benefits associated specifically ease of access for suppliers to contract opportunities across the region and the economies of scale associated with jointly procuring and contract managing a system.

- The current contract with Proactis for the ETendering solution (contract reference: C4713) ends on the 31st December 2021 and there are no available extensions.
- The incumbent provider did not submit a bid for the new contract so a new system will need to be implemented.
- An eTendering solution is a requirement of all public bodies captured by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, where information relating to tendering activity must be available electronically as per regulation 22.

- In addition to the regulatory requirement in having tender documents electronically available. An eTendering solution
- North Yorkshire County Council have led the procurement on behalf of the 24 Y&H authorities and this has involved all stakeholders, including Doncaster Council, feeding into the specification and other elements of the procurement. The council’s ICT were consulted with on the specification and no technical issues were raised.

- Eight tenders were received and evaluated in line with the evaluation strategy. Four suppliers failed the minimum threshold questions and were disqualified. The tender was evaluated on 60% quality and 40% price.
- The highest scoring bidder is EU Supply (Mercell). This supplier are experienced in working on multi-authority contracts for example they currently deliver the national collaborative portal in Ireland (6,400 buying organisations) and the Blue Light portal (40 buying organisations).
- Leeds City Council will enter into the contract with Mercell UK and Doncaster Council will pay Leeds City Council for their portion through an agreement Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

To award a replacement contract for the eTendering System used by the Council to EU Supply (Mercell UK) for 3+2+2 years from the 1st January 2022, following the conclusion of a Public Procurement compliant open procurement process conducted on behalf of the member authorities, by North Yorkshire Council. The full cost to Doncaster Council if all extensions are exercised is £92,022 (£13,146 per annum).

Doncaster Council has been allocated £1,379,600 from the Department for Education’s Holiday Activity &
Food Programme.

The £1,379,600 will be used to offer free holiday and food activity places to children and young people, who receive benefits-related free school meals. Of this, £992,688 has been allocated for the Summer period. However, we have £43,256.36 underspend from the Easter programme which will be rolled over in to the summer programme, totalling £1,035,944.36.

To agree to fund activities during the Summer 2021 Schools Holidays of up to £1,035,944.36 from the Department for Education’s Holiday, Activity & Food Programme on a range of proposals as set out in box 3.
On Friday 19th March the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones and Overview and Scrutiny Consultee: Councillor Jane Kidd, agreed to approve the RULE 16 DECISION: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION HOLIDAY ACTIVITIES AND FOOD PROGRAMME.

As part of this Rule 16 decision it was agreed; To delegate decisions around how to allocate the grant within its terms and conditions to the Assistant Director: Partnerships, Early Intervention & Localities in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People and Schools.

DMBC spend approximately £50,000 per annum on cash collection and delivery services. The service current provider is Security Plus + Ltd, who have been providing the services since 1st July 2013. The
current contract is due to expire on 30th June 2021.

Lot 8 of the ESPO Framework Agreement 324F-20 Cash Collection and Cash in Transit Services has been identified as the best route to market. This allows for Direct Award to one of three suppliers who are on the Framework. These are Security Plus + Ltd and G4S Cash Solutions (UK) Ltd and King Armoured Security.

To award a contract for ‘Cash Collection and Cash in Transit from Premises or Buildings of various types and On street and Off street car parks (including pay and display machines)’ from 1st July 2021 to Security Plus Ltd , who are the existing supplier.

This will be done under Lot 8 of the ESPO Framework Agreement 324F Cash Collection and Cash in Transit Services and will be a direct award to Security Plus + Ltd.

The initial period will be for 2 years with an option to extend for 1 further period of 2 years. The total value of the contract will be approximately £200,000.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To utilise the team’s assessment budget in an alternative way; to procure fewer Best Interest Assessor (‘BIA’) assessments via Reed agency (pursuant to the current DoLS team order against the overarching framework) and instead use the available budget to employ more BIA staff in the team on fixed term contracts.

An ODR2 has been completed as the value of the change equates to approximately £74,000 of the budget that will be used to employ members of staff within the team, and will not be used to pay for BIA assessments procured via Reed.

By appointing a suitable partner via a procurement exercise, we will be able to take suitable learning through the course of the project. A partner will provide an objective view of the project's pathway and opportunity for reflection and amendment to ensure key targets are met. The insight and metrics of evaluation are defined; however, this is not exclusive and if through the learning process other identifiers are highlighted which support a sustainable evolution of our approaches they can be incorporated.

Within Get Doncaster Moving (GDM) and the Local Delivery Pilot, the process learning is invaluable in ensuring the step changes taken are understood and lessons learnt along the way. Doncaster Future parks is looking at parks provision in its entirety and wishes to emulate GDM’s successes. By appointing a partner organisation to carry out monitoring and evaluation specifically for the Future parks the evaluation and learning will complement wider evaluation across Get Doncaster Moving, mirroring a techniques allowing comparison of outputs.

To carry out a tendering exercise to appoint a partner organisation to provide monitoring and evaluation of the entire Doncaster Future Parks (DFP) project. Until March 31st 2025.

Sport England funding is secured for this element of the project to take place as part of the DFP programme. The value of the procurement exercise is for £170,000.00; This is for the Support of the monitor and evaluator (50k), the development of a forward plan (10k) and opportunity to share our learning (10k) provide reports on parks usage data (£100k).

The contract will be engaged using the Local Funding Agreement delivery partner Terms and Conditions provided by Sport England currently used on existing partner contracts.

To comply with the Secretary of States Academy Order of 11 March 2021.

Further to the academy order of the Regional Schools Commissioner issued on 11 March, 2021 the Council is required to execute all formal documentation to complete the conversion to Academy Status.

The decision record approves the appropriate instruction to the Councils Legal Department to complete and seal the documentation in order to convert New Pastures to academy status from 1 September 2021 and will join the Venn Academy Trust.

The Travel assistance service is undergoing a review and the number of children requiring assistance is increasing year on year and the current team cannot cope on a day to day basis as it is not at full capacity.

There is very little scope for additional projects which require completion in the next 12 months.

To create an additional Grade 8 Team Manager post within the Travel Assistance Service for a period of 12 months. This is to provide capacity within the existing team to undertake a number of projects and service improvements over the next 12 months. The post holder will assist existing team managers with daily management of office staff, drivers and escorts including all HR duties such as Managing Attendance, disciplinary etc.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To agree to extend the temporary positions for HMP & YOI Hatfield Lakes and HMP Moorland, facilities which Doncaster Council’s library service is contracted to manage and deliver on behalf of the prison service.

The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the establishment of a Children’s Resilience and Recovery Programme, which in turn has impacted on
resources, in particular, front line staff to work directly with children, young people and their families.

The current pandemic has simultaneously increased the strain on families and reduced school capacity to manage early help cases, in particular step-downs from social care.
This places a risk in the system for vulnerable children and young people, especially any not in an educational setting. These often end up in a re-referral into Social Care,
placing greater pressure on an already stretched front door. Therefore, providing extra Early Help Officers in the form of Family Lead Practitioners means that educational settings will be better supported. In effect, the officers can catch the step-downs and ensure support is provided in a timely and appropriate manner.

Due to the above, this ODR seeks to establish the following posts:
? 7 FTE Family Lead Practitioners (Grade 7) temporary for 12 months
? 1 FTE Technical Business Support (Grade 6) temporary for 12 months
The Family Lead Practitioners will be managed within the Early Intervention and Localities Service.

Recruit seven temporary Family Lead Practitioners to support schools to manage children and young people who are stepped down from social care, in particular into educational settings, many of whom have Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, with direct early help support.

Recruit one temporary Business Support Officer (Technical) to support the on-going development of the service.

Allocate funding of £216k from the Children’s Partnership Recovery and Resilience Programme approved by Cabinet on 26th January 2021.

The Council and Team Doncaster Partnership have embarked upon an ambitious programme to ensure that all individuals, communities and places feel the impact of the Doncaster Growing Together Strategy – the Partnerships guiding plan of action.
This commitment includes an agreement to develop a specific local focus of partnership working, including a major joint effort on prevention – spotting and stemming the flow of issues and concerns before they become acute. This joint local focus will be ever more important in the post Covid-19 period, and a localised, community driven approach has been agreed as a key mean to deliver the Mayor’s published Recovery and Renewal Plan.

To formally establish a temporary Localities Team to design, develop and implement the locality working model and request funding of £604,490 from the Council’s Service
Transformation Fund. Details of the roles is outlined below and a proposed structure chart attached

Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act requires local authorities to provide Short Breaks for families with disabled children. This is set out in the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011 (or Short Breaks Regulations 2011), which require local authorities to
do three things:
? To ensure that, when making short break provision, they have regard to the needs of
different types of carers, not just those who would be unable to continue to provide care
without a break;
? To provide a range of short breaks, as appropriate, during the day, night, at weekends
and during the school holidays; and
? To provide parents with a short breaks services statement detailing the range of available breaks and any eligibility criteria attached to them.

Following part of the Short Breaks Service Review, and through recent market engagement research. It was found that there is a limited amount of providers offering Short Break activities regularly, leaving less choice for SEND young people. The need for the Capital Grant to support new providers to register as a provider on the DPS will add extra value and sustainability to deliver additional activities for this cohort.

Following the original approved decision to proceed with the 50K Short Breaks Capital Grantfund, which supported the Local Offer and statutory duty to provide Short Breaks, and to
improve range, capacity and availability of activities across the borough. Funds were awarded as agreed by panel for successful bids. Totalling £36718.60, with an underspend of £13,281.40. (Original ODR 1718171).

This is to support the Local Offer and statutory duty to provide Short Breaks, and to improve range, capacity and availability of activities across the borough. (Original
ODR 1718171).

Following evaluation of bids by a multi-agency panel, 8 providers have been successful in securing Short Breaks Capital Grant Funding.

Following the approved decision to proceed with the Short Breaks Capital Grant fund, award the funds as agreed by panel on the 23/10/19 for successful bids is to be
actioned.

To comply with the Secretary of State’s Academy Order of 17 October 2019

Further to the academy order of the Regional Schools Commissioner issued on 17 October 2019 the Council is now required to execute all formal documentation necessary to complete the conversion to academy status.

This decision record approves the appropriate instruction to the Council’s Legal section to complete and seal the appropriate documentation in order for Hawthorn Primary to convert to academy status on 1 March 2020 as a converter academy. It is proposed that Hawthorn Primary will join a Multi Academy Trust – Empowering Minds Academy Trust.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

Option 2 which provides increased capacity of DANs whilst providing the extended reach of the Service to standard and
medium risk DVA referrals whilst linking with communities and localities and tackling both the stigma and acceptance of DVA in local communities.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To fund via grant money, under Local Authority Test and Trace support Grant Conditions, the continuation of the IPC specialist nursing service in the community (care homes) from 1.4.2021 to 31 March 2022. The service is currently provided by contribution of IPC nursing capacity from Doncaster Bassetlaw Teaching Hospital (DBTH), which consists of 2 nurses from DBTH (1 wte Band 8A; and 0.4 wte Band 6) at a total cost of £98,115.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To Grant Supplier Relief as detailed in the attached Officer Decision Record.

This decision is based on documentary evidence provided by the providers and assessed by Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team

See attached ODR for full details

To grant supplier relied as outlined in the attached Officer Decision Record

This decision was based on documentary evidence supplied by the providers and assessed by Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team.

See attached ODR for full details

To extend the current contract until 1 October 2021

There is a statutory requirement to publish a Post 16 Transport Policy Statement by 31st May each year in accordance with the Home to School Statutory Travel and Transport Guidance published by the Government in 2014.

There is a statutory requirement to publish a Post 16 Transport Policy Statement by 31st May each year. Following legal advice a consultation on the proposed policy for the 2021/2022 Academic year was approved and undertaken in January 2021.

There were no changes proposed within the consultation for 2021/22 and only one response was received from South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) this contained suggested wording in relation to the bus passes and tickets which they currently offer. These updates have been made to the draft policy and a copy is attached for information.

Approval is now required to publish the policy in May 2021 in accordance with the guidance.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To retrospectively agree to de-register the Big Picture School with the Department for Education and convert into an Alternative Provision site offering short term interventions.

To vary the contract held with Big Issues Invest Limited to reflect the change from a school to an
Alternative Provision Site.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

Following the approved decision to proceed with the Short Breaks Capital Grant fund, award the funds as agreed by panel on the 23/10/19 for successful bids is to be actioned.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

1.To transfer 19 members of staff from the line management of North Ridge school to the Travel Assistance Service department of the Council to take effect prior to the transfer of the School to academy status
2. To enter into an agreement for the provision by the Nexus Multi Academy Trust of a bus parking facility and the occasional use by the Trust of the buses parked there to take the children on field trips and other outings connected to their education.
3. To enter into a grant agreement to assist with the co-ordination and administration requirements connected to the provision by the Council of bus transport to and from North Ridge School for the children and parents.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To approve the award of grant funding to successful providers for the provision of short breaks activities as agreed by the short breaks multi agency panel on the 23.10.19 following the approved decision to proceed with the Short Breaks Capital Grant Fund Scheme on the 22/8/2017 (Original ODR 1718171)

Only one of the interested schools meets the national rate for the achievement of grade 5 or above in English; and only two of them meet the national rate for the achievement of grade 4 or above.

The range for grade 5 or above is from 2.7% to -32.3%; the range for grade 4 or above is from 6.6% to -34.4%. In the four interested schools, the difference between the progress of disadvantaged students and the national rate for non-disadvantaged students is in a range from -0.06 to -1.41.

The interested schools cover a range of contexts and the priority for project leaders will be their voluntary engagement.

Metacognition and working memory are key components of the new Ofsted framework which will come into being in 2020/21.

To grant New College Doncaster £45,000 to deliver a project which will bring together 6 volunteer secondary schools to test the effectiveness of a Metacognition intervention with year 9 students.

The focus of the project will be retrieval practice, a key skill which links to a wider range of qualities including resilience and self-regulation. New College Doncaster are uniquely placed to deliver this as they have the materials and
expertise available to carry out the trial, given they use metacognition strategies within their current environment.

This project will test assumptions locally, building on research undertaken by the Education Endowment Foundation. If proven to be an effective method for Doncaster, individual schools may choose to adopt the approaches.

There are four key objectives:
to trial, test and evaluate strategies for developing memory and retrieval skills with a group of year 9 students in order to prepare them for the demands of GCSE assessment;

to establish ways of learning which will not only improve long-term memory but develop students’ ability to tackle challenging problems and difficulties within and between
subjects;

to engage English teachers of year 9 students in the development of their skills in disciplined inquiry, subsequently extending this to teachers of other subjects and across
a wider range of schools;

to support schools in establishing and sustaining a culture of student independence and resilience, leading to sustainable change and improved outcomes.

The government has advised public bodies via the PPN 02/20 and PPN 4/20 Supplier Relief due to COVID19, to help ensure supplier sustainability through the COVID19 pandemic and through its recovery phase.

To grant supplier relief under the SRS for the three months period from 1st April to the 30th June 2020.

This decision based on documentary evidence provided by the providers and assessed by the SRS Panel consisting of Procurement, Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team

The government has advised public bodies via the PPN 02_2020 Supplier Relief due to COVID19, to help ensure supplier sustainability through the COVID19 pandemic.

To grant supplier relief under the SRS for the three months period from 1 April to the 30 June 2020.

This decision based on documentary evidence provided by the providers and assessed by the SRS Panel consisting of Strategic Procurement, Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team.

The government has advised public bodies via the PPN 02_2020 Supplier Relief due to COVID19, to help ensure supplier sustainability through the COVID19 pandemic.

To grant supplier relief under the SRS for the three months period from 1 April to the 30 June 2020.

This decision based on documentary evidence provided by the providers and assessed by the SRS Panel consisting of Strategic Procurement, Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team.

The government has advised public bodies via the PPN 20_2020 Supplier Relief due to COVID19, to help ensure supplier sustainability through the COVID19 pandemic.

To grant supplier relief under the SRS for the three months period from 1 April to the 30 June 2020.

This decision based on documentary evidence provided by the providers and assessed by the SRS Panel 18.05.20 consisting of Strategic Procurement, Financial Management and the Schools Transport Team.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To approve the following application for grant funding from the Doncaster Community Fund – Ward Member Budget
a. Dunscroft Warriors Junior Football Club
Reference No: 44/DCF/MWB/Hat
Supported by: Councillor Curran
Cost £2,000
b. Community Reaching You
Reference No: 47/DCF/MWB/N&Ask
Supported by: Councillor White, Councillor Beech, Councillor Gilliver
Cost £3,000 (£1,000 x 3 Councillors)
c. Scouting involvement in improvements to the natural environment
Reference No: 49/DCF/MWB/EdKS&BD
Supported by: Councillor Robinson, Councillor Keegan, Councillor
Nevett
Cost £450.00 (£150 x 3 Councillors)

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To approve the following application for grant funding from the Doncaster Community
Fund – Ward Member Budget
a. Activity Bags
Reference No: 50/DCF/MWB/Ros&B
Supported by: Councillor Blake, Councillor Cooke and Councillor
Cooper
Cost £397.42 (132.47 x 3 Councillors)
b. Bawtry Action for Recreation and Sport (BARS)
Reference No: 51/DCF/MWB/Ros&B
Supported by: Councillor Blake, Councillor Cooke and Councillor
Cooper
Cost £600.00 (£200.00 x 3 Councillors)

To ensure that the Council’s interests are sufficiently represented through its appointments to these bodies.

Such appointments help to ensure that the Council’s views are represented to local and national groups and, where the representative has voting rights, that the Council is involved in any decisions that may affect the people of the Borough.

To approve the following change to the schedule of Executive appointments to outside bodies for the period 2020/21 with immediate effect:

St Leger Homes of Doncaster Board – to remove Councillor Jane Nightingale from the Board and appoint Councillor Paul Wray.

See attached Officer Decision Record for full details

To approve the following application for grant funding from the Doncaster Community Fund – Ward Member Budget
a. Wildlings and Wellbeing CIC
Reference No: 76/DCF/MWB/HexBN&BS
Supported by: Councillor John Healy
Cost £1,000
b. Brighter Days Wellbeing CIC
Reference No: 77/DCF/MWB/Con&Den
Supported by: Councillor Lani Mae Ball
Cost £600
c. Conisbrough & Denaby Positive Activities Group
Reference No: 78/DCF/MWB/Con&Den
Supported by: Councillor Ian Pearson
Cost £494.26
d. Entour
Reference No: 79/DCF/MWB/Con&Den
Supported by: Councillor Nigel Ball
Cost £1,000
e. Conisbrough Community Events
Reference No: 80/DCF/MWB/Con&Den
Supported by: Councillor Nigel Ball
Cost £200
f. Kool Kayakers Canoe Club
Reference No: 81/DCF/MWB/Nor&Ask
Supported by: Councillor White, Beech and Gilliver
Cost £1,000 x 3 Councillors
g. SERV (Stainforth Environmental Regeneration Volunteers)
Reference No: 71/DCF/MWB/St
Supported by: Councillor George Derx
Cost £1,000

The government has advised public bodies via the PPN 20_2020 Supplier Relief due to COVID19, to help ensure supplier sustainability through the COVID19 pandemic.

To grant supplier relief under the SRS totalling for the three months period from 1 April to the 30 June 2020.