Purpose

Proposed Decision:
 
APPROVE the development of new
place-based Infant Feeding Support Services that align with the
Health and Care Partnership areas from January 2026
onwards.
 
APPROVE amendments to the current
Health Visiting Service specification from January 2026,
particularly the approach to the delivery of the mandated antenatal
contact.
 
DELEGATE authority to the Director
of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult
Social Care and Public Health, to exercise relevant contract
extensions and enter into relevant contracts or legal agreements;
and
 
DELEGATE authority to the Director
of Public Health, to take other necessary actions, including but
not limited to allocating resources, expenditure, and entering into
contracts and other legal agreements, as required to implement the
decision.
 
 
Background
 
Local authorities are responsible for using
the Public Health Grant funding to commission and deliver health
visiting services as part of the 0-19 years National Healthy Child
Programme (HCP).  Health Visiting and infant feeding
services are commissioned as part of KCC’s statutory
responsibilities, which includes five mandated contacts.
 
Reason for the
decision
The Kent Health Visiting Service,
which includes the Specialist Infant Feeding Service and the Family
Partnership Programme, is currently delivered through a
co-operation agreement between KCC and Kent Community Health NHS
Foundation Trust (KCHFT), which ends on the 31 March 2026. A
recommissioning exercise is therefore in progress to agree the
approach beyond the contract term. The recommissioning is part of
the Public Health Transformation Programme.
 
In February 2023, KCC became one of 75
upper-tier local authorities to receive Family Hub and Start for
Life funding. The Family Hub model supports the delivery of a range
of services for children, young people and families, including
health visiting and infant feeding. In November 2023, a local
implementation model was agreed to join up and enhance services
delivered through Family Hubs in Kent, ensuring all parents and
carers can access the support they need when they need it.
 
This proposal aligns with the Family Hub model
and supports implementation of the recently approved strategy,
‘Nourishing our next generation’, Kent’s 5-year
infant feeding strategy (2024-2029).
 
Options
appraisal
 
There has been a thorough options appraisal
process. A full business case has been developed to arrive at the
proposed service model which is outlined below.
 
How the proposed
decision supports KCC Strategy 
 
Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy
2022-2026  

Priority 1: Levelling up Kent
To work with our partners to hardwire a
preventative approach into improving the health of Kent’s
population and narrowing health inequalities.
 
By investing in the early years, Children will
receive the best start in life contributing to KCC’s priority
of Levelling up Kent – improving health and reducing health
inequalities.
 
Priority 4: New Models of Care and Support
To reshape our commissioning practice to
ensure we build strategic partnerships with our providers, through
earlier engagement, more consistent and proactive commissioning
practice, and a stronger focus on co-designing services.
 
The re-commissioning of the Kent Health
Visiting Service and the review process has involved engaging with
stakeholders to develop the service model. The new service will
embed a whole-family approach, tackling the underlying problems
that might cause concern in a child’s family, such as
domestic abuse, substance misuse and parental mental health
 
How the proposed decision supports Securing
Kent’s Future 2022 -2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget
Recovery Strategy.pdf
 
Securing Kent’s Future 2022
-2026: Securing
Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf 
 
The proposed changes to the
Kent Health Visiting service support KCC’s duty for best
value requirements.
 
Nourishing our next generation, Kent’s
5-year infant feeding strategy (2024-2029)
 
Financial
Implications
 
The funding for contracts would be funded from
the Public Health Grant and, should DFE confirm additional Start
for Life grant funding beyond March 2025 for infant feeding, this
would be used for additional activity within the contracts.
Contract values will be finalised follow a
Provider Selection Regime compliant procurement process, including
supplier negotiations, as applicable.
 
Contract values will be within the following
maximum budgets available for these services;

·         up to
£142,519,893 for a 5 year and 6-month contract for Health
Visiting Service (including Specialist Infant Feeding Service and
Family Partnership Programme (This includes an estimated uplift
that will be applied to the contract subject to the allocation of
the public health grant.)

·         up to
£2,682,109 for a 3-year contract with a 2-year extension for
a place-based infant feeding service.
 
The above values include an estimated uplift
that will be applied to the contract subject to the allocation of
the public health grant (with the exclusion of the first year). The
uplift reflects the need to retain the workforce.
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Adult
Social Care and Public Health, I agree to:
I.              
APPROVE the development of a new place-based Infant
Feeding Support Services that align with the Health and Care
Partnership areas from January 2026 onwards.
II.            
APPROVE amendments to the current Health Visiting
Service specification from January 2026, particularly the approach
to the delivery of the mandated antenatal contact and the required
expenditure, via the Public Health Grant, for these
amendments;
III.           
DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health,
in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and
Public Health, to exercise relevant contract extensions and enter
into relevant contracts or legal agreements; and
IV.          
DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health,
to take other necessary actions, including but not limited to
allocating resources, expenditure, and entering into contracts and
other legal agreements, as required to implement the
decision.