Millions of pounds are spent each year in Wokingham looking after people when they retire and disabled people.
Millions of pounds are spent each year in Wokingham looking after people in retirement and those with disabilities. Adult social care — arranging residential care, home visits and other support — is one of the council’s main duties.
The council’s adult social care team commissions care from a range of organisations. Wesley Hedger, service director for strategy and commissioning, said the council manages 140 packages of home care and five packages of supported living each month. Valued at £25 million, it is the department’s biggest commissioning exercise, and the council typically arranges more than 600 new packages each year.
The department is developing a new commissioning framework, discussed at an extraordinary meeting of the council’s health and overview scrutiny committee. The current framework expires in October 2026.
On how providers join, Mr Hedger said: “We opened the framework in 2021, and providers were allowed to bid to be as part of that framework. Then it closed, no new providers could enter that framework arrangement.
“Under this new arrangement, we will open it and then have established periods where we will reopen it and allow new entrants into the market to join the framework thereafter.
“So there are multiple providers on the framework. It's just when it's closed, it's closed, it's a once-in opportunity.
“So we're going to be more flexible now and say we'll open it once and then in a year's time we'll open it again and let more providers come and go as we need to meet our need.”
Chris Clarke, head of adult social care commissioning, said the council currently uses 15–20 providers per month.
On removing poor-performing providers, Cllr Rebecca Margetts asked: “So obviously if there were inspections and reports and incidents, you would then be able to remove them from the framework and say that we're not going to give them any work just because they're on it, they don't stay on it for five years.”
Mr Hedger replied: “Yeah, so there will be separate contract stipulations around being on the framework.
“So, if a provider doesn't meet our quality standards in terms of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), they wouldn't be able to bid for the business.
“So, yes, we'll be able to manage that through the contractual process.”
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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