Purpose

The Children in Care (CIC) Transformation
Programme is focused on reducing statutory intervention, supporting
family-based solutions, providing local care to improve outcomes,
increasing the availability of local foster care and enhancing
placement stability.

As part of this programme, a need has been identified for a
data-driven diagnostic approach to support the work on specialist
foster carers within the Re-Think Fostering workstream. To ensure
robust, evidence-based decision-making, the following additional
diagnostic activities have been identified:

• 15 days for analysis of Valuing Care data
• 10 days for Foster carer skills mapping
• 5 days for residential risk rating supplementation

These activities will provide the necessary insights to inform
strategic planning and service development.

It has also been identified through the CIC transformation
programme that external input will be required to enhance
Lincolnshire County Council’s IT solutions within our
prevention model. To do this support will be required to
explore:

• A Child-level integrated database (model input)
• A Machine Learning model
• Integration of the above models into ways of working

Public Alchemy have previously delivered data-led diagnostics for
the CIC Transformation Programme and are well-placed to undertake
the identified additional work. There is an option to extend their
existing contract to cover these new requirements.

Decision

That the Assistant Director of
Children’s Services approves an extension to the Children In
Care analytics and intelligence project delivered by Public Alchemy
Limited (PAL) via the Bloom Framework. The total value of the
extension is £121,263.16 excluding VAT, consisting of
£45,473.68 excluding VAT to support the Specialist Foster
Carers work and £75,789.47 excluding VAT for the prevention
model.

The overall value of the initial contract and the extension is
£181,263.16 excluding VAT.

Alternative options considered

Alternative 1: To continue with Specialist
Foster Carer and prevention model activities without external
input

he CIC Transformation Programme has identified a clear need for
data-led diagnostics to fully understand Valuing Care data, foster
carer skillsets, and residential risk ratings for specialist foster
carers. Within the prevention model, it has also identified that
input is required to explore a Child-level integrated database
(model input) and Machine Learning model and that these models will
need to be integrated into ways of working.

Choosing not to proceed with data-led diagnostics presents a
significant risk: decisions may be made without a robust evidence
base, potentially relying on incomplete or inaccurate information.
This could undermine the effectiveness of strategic planning and
jeopardise the long-term success and financial sustainability of
the local authority in delivering statutory Children in Care
services.

Choosing not to pursue enhancements in integrated data systems and
machine learning models poses a significant risk to the council by
missing a valuable opportunity for innovation and service
modernisation. Without a robust child-level integrated database,
the council will lack a comprehensive view of individual
children’s needs, risks, and service
interactions—limiting its ability to make informed
decisions.

Furthermore, without leveraging machine learning, the council will
be unable to effectively analyse historical data to identify
patterns, predict future risks, or classify cases. This could
result in reactive rather than proactive service delivery, reducing
the effectiveness of early intervention efforts and potentially
increasing long-term costs.

Alternative 2: To initiate an alternative procurement process to
identify a different provider either through an existing framework
or by using a request for quotation

Public Alchemy was procured through Bloom, a nationally recognised
procurement framework that offers a fully compliant route for
public sector organisations to engage professional services. Public
Alchemy have been actively involved in the CIC Transformation
Programme and possesses in-depth knowledge of both the programme
and the local context in Lincolnshire. Procuring a new provider via
an alternative procurement would require significant officer time
and resources, if a new provider was identified through this
process additional time would be required for a new provider
to
become familiar with the programme.

Given that an extension to the Public Alchemy’s existing
compliant contract is permissible, this option is not considered
viable.