ENGAGE&INSPIRE

The newsletter of the Third Sector Health & Social Care Support Team

Help Shape the Programme - What are your priorities?

Thanks to all of you who have already completed our online survey. The responses we have had to date have been really helpful and are definitely focusing our thinking on what we need to prioritise going forward! 

That said we would love to hear from more of you so if you haven't had a chance to complete it yet, and can spare 10 or 15 minutes, we would love to hear from you.

Alternatively, if you want to let us know what you think but hate surveys, just drop us an email and one of us will arrange to give you a call for a chat at a time that suits.

Integration Update

Check out our Integration Arrangements Spreadsheet for up-to-date information about the integration arrangements across Scotland. We have restructured the content to make it easier to navigate and have added in some new items. 

As anticipated we are beginning to see some signs of Partnerships planning specific activities to move forward their strategic plans and a couple are now out for formal consultation.

East Dunbartonshire - The Partnership would like to include Social Work Children’s Services and Criminal Justice Services in their portfolio of services going forward. To do this they need to change their Integration Scheme. Consultation on the draft scheme has already started and runs until the 21st June 2016. More information can be found on consultation section of the the East Dunbartonshire Council website.

Procurement News

The sustainable procurement duty and community benefit requirements introduced in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 take effect on 1st June.   

The sustainable procurement duty requires contracting authorities to think about how they can improve the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of their area before they purchase anything, and has a particular focus on reducing inequality. It also requires a contracting authority to consider how its procurement processes can facilitate the involvement of SMEs, third sector bodies and supported business and how public procurement can be used to promote innovation.

The community benefits requirement requires a contracting authority to consider including community benefit requirements for all regulated procurements where the estimated value of the contract is equal to or greater than £4 million.

More detailed information can be found in the statutory guidance.

Other News

Community Empowerment Act

You will note from our consultations section that consultations on the guidance and regulations that will support the Act's implementation are now in full swing. You will find excellent information and a number of pertinent briefings on the Community Empowerment Section of the SCDC website. This includes a briefing on the implications of the Act for community-led health organisations.

DRILL Funding Opened - Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning

The Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning (DRILL) programme is now seeking funding applications. The programme offers grants for research and pilot projects and requires that these are led by or in partnership with disabled people’s organisations or people with disabilities.The deadline for applications is 12pm, 27th July 2016. 

Health and Care Experience Survey 2015/2016

The results of the Scottish Health and Care Experience Survey 2015/2016 have been published, Over 100,000 individuals registered with a GP practice in Scotland took part in the Survey. The Team are currently working on a summary of its findings.