Decision details

RESOLVED: Approved by Cabinet and then on to Council for approval due to the financial value:

A.   Agreed to proceed with the replacement of the Case Management System for the Children’s Social Care across Northamptonshire, which will be operated by Northants Children’s Trust (NCT), with a financial contribution by WNC of £1.573m as outlined in section 6.

B.   Delegated authority to the Lead Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills, in liaison with the Executive Director of People Services, to take any further decisions and actions required to implement the Case Management System and award contracts in relation to this.

C.   Recommended to Council that a budget change is made as set out in the report, and that it delegates authority to the Cabinet Member for Finance in consultation with the Executive Director of Finance to access and utilise appropriate funding for the Case Management System for Children’s Social Care.

REASONS RESOLVED:

1.    To implement a new Case Management System that is fit for purpose and meets the statutory obligations for delivering Children’s Social Care across Northamptonshire.

2.    Other alternatives considered include:

·         For the current system (CareFirst) to continue to be used impacting the transformation and process changes to be reflected on the case management system.

·         For the Eclipse system to be implemented under the current service and system. However, the contract will still expire in Jan 2025 and a reprocurement would need to begin prior to implementation of the system in order to award a new contract.

·         To have no case management system would not be a viable option that could be considered.

·         There are no other case management software applications in use within the Council that that could be utilised by NCT.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS:

None