Empowering care providers: Overcoming the complexities of public sector contracting

• The client: Dimensions UK, seeking to secure the opportunity to provide learning disability services to adults within a community
• The challenge: Ensuring that the scope of services and financial impact didn’t have a negative effect on our client’s operation
• The outcome: Dimensions UK were appointed to provide care services across the local authority’s area

The Challenge

Dimensions UK is a national not-for-profit provider of services for people with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs. Anthony Collins has worked with Dimensions UK for several years and share the same values and aspirations in relation to empowering people.

In 2015 Dimensions UK entered into discussions with a local authority, together with a number of other providers, around a proposed tender to provide learning disability services to adults throughout that authority’s area. The commissioner was looking for an organisation that would establish a separate not-for-profit entity to deliver its learning disability services, involving the transfer of many employees.

The Solution

We worked collaboratively to explore the options available to Dimensions UK, right through to the final contract dialogue. This involved advising on all aspects, including: property, employment, pensions, contract, regulatory and governance law.

In commercial terms, one of the most difficult issues has been around pension liabilities and obtaining the financial security required by the commissioner. Our lawyers worked with the Dimensions team and the local authority to devise innovative and complex solutions.

The Impact

The project was hugely challenging, both in terms of the scope of the tendered services and in the financial impact that taking on such a broad portfolio of services could have on the client. It required working with the commissioner and developing a partnering and flexible approach – something very much in line with the principles underlying the Care Act and our own philosophy.

Our shared values and aspirations provide an excellent grounding for collaborative working. This understanding and alignment of beliefs meant we were committed to the project in more than simply a professional capacity, whilst equally recognising the potential risks it exposed our client to and the need to mitigate these.