Tameside Contract Monitoring Procedures

Tameside Contract Monitoring Policy and Procedures 2010 - now available.

The Contract Monitoring Policy and Procedures are now available on the website.

Introduction

This toolkit set outs Tameside MBC’s approach to managing the contractual arrangements of services funded under the Supporting People programme from April 2010.

The Supporting People Grant Determination 2009/10, made under Section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003 sets out the purpose of Supporting People Funding, “…to provide support to Local Authorities in England towards expenditure lawfully incurred, or to be incurred by them.” The Grant Determination places no restriction on the potential use of Supporting People funding, no prescription on how the programme is overseen and governed and no requirement to develop a strategy.

In this context the Tameside Supporting People (SP) Team have reviewed their Contract Monitoring policy and procedures. The team have also taken account of recent changes with the introduction of the new Quality Assessment Framework, National Outcome Framework and National Indicator set. The team consulted Providers and service users on the proposed policy and procedures and have taken account of their feedback. Throughout this tool kit the team will refer to “service users” and not “clients” as defined in the new QAF 2009. The decision to retain the term “service users” was made following consultation with service users. 

We propose to manage, monitor and assess services in three ways:

• Contract Monitoring – desk top assessments
• Performance Indicator Validation Visits
• Contract Monitoring Visits

The aim of the new policy and procedure is to streamline processes where possible and ensure that the data being collected is relevant and of benefit to both Providers and the Supporting People programme. Its purpose is to improve the quality of service being delivered and outcomes for service users. 

The team encourages you to share this document with your staff team to ensure that all relevant staff are fully aware of the various aspects of the Contract Monitoring policy / procedure and that they understand their contribution to this process.

Tameside Quality Assessment Framework Guidance

Communities and Local Government (CLG), along with Sitra and National Housing Federation agreed that it was appropriate to refresh the Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) so that it reflected the aims and aspirations of service delivery in 2008 and beyond. CLG, Sitra & National Housing Federation therefore set up a working group made up of a number of local authorities and service providers to produce, what is hopefully, a more streamlined and less process-driven QAF framework. 

The bar has been raised in terms of what is expected at all levels of the QAF. The original purpose of the QAF remains: to continue to drive up quality standards across the sector and to ensure that services evolve to meet the changing needs and aspirations of clients.