Agenda item

To consider the above report.

Following consultation with the Executive Director of People, and the Director of Legal Services, approval be given for the Council to enter into an Integrated Services Agreement with Trafford, Stockport, Manchester and Salford Councils from 3^rd July 2017. Such agreement to be substantially in the form of the agreement attached to the report.

It was reported that on 8 March 2016 Cabinet resolved that Cheshire East Council enter a Regional Adoption Agency with Trafford, Stockport, Manchester and Salford Councils and that decisions concerning the specific detail of arrangements be delegated to the Portfolio Holder in consultation with the Director of Children’s Services and the Director of Legal Services.

The five local authorities had subsequently created a single Regional Adoption Agency, to be known as Adoption Counts, to deliver unified adoption services across the geographical boundaries of the five authorities.

The terms relating to the establishment and operation of Adoption Counts were contained in the Integrated Services Agreement attached to the report. 

Pursuant to the Integrated Services Agreement and Regulation 12(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the five authorities had agreed that Stockport Borough Council would be the host authority for Adoption Counts.

It was noted that the Government had made it clear that there was no option for adoption services to remain as they currently were.  Other partnership options had been considered during the bid stage but the strength of established arrangements in Four4adoption, within which Cheshire East had already been working closely with Tameside, Stockport and Trafford for a number of years, were considered to offer the greatest potential of success.

RESOLVED

Following consultation with the Executive Director of People, and the Director of Legal Services, approval be given for the Council to enter into an Integrated Services Agreement with Trafford, Stockport, Manchester and Salford Councils from 3 July 2017. Such agreement to be substantially in the form of the agreement attached to the report.