Rebranding the role of Local Authority SP Teams

[Luke Canvin]

With the removal of the SP ring-fence and the introduction of Local Area Agreements and Area Based Grants, we are seeing the a growth in the role of SP teams managing additional types of services that benefit the community (such as Drug and Alcohol, Telecare and Homelessness Services). We are continuing to develop the SPOCC system to meet with these emerging requirements and in particular are adding support for managing payments for services with multiple funding streams. To help you to get non-SP funded service teams to use SPOCC, we are considering rebranding the product to reflect its wider use as contracts and quality management system.

It is also worth noting the burgeoning requirement for systems to support the Self Directed Support Agenda. This client-centred view of services is an important development which complements the community focus of LAAs and one that we are supporting through enhancements both to SPOCC and particularly to Controcc, our Social Care Contracts and Finance system.

SP teams are ideally positioned to manage community based contracts covering all aspects of CLG funding and LAAs. Furthermore, you have SPOCC, which is a unique and excellent tool for managing all aspects of community based contracts (contracts, payments and quality monitoring). However, the tool and indeed the SP team, have become synonymous with SP services. This means that management of non-SP funded services is sometimes resistant to incorporation into the “SPOCC” system because of its association with SP. This is unhelpful in terms of efficient IT and service management but understandable since LA teams like to keep a separate identity. We are therefore considering (in addition to our efforts to adapt the product itself) rebranding SPOCC to help SP teams position themselves as the Community Contracts team covering all aspects of LAAs and their funding streams.

At this stage, we’d like your feedback on this proposal:

1. Do you think rebranding SPOCC is a good idea?
2. What types of services are you planning to manage within your Community Contract teams?
3. Are there any changes to SPOCC that we should make to support this process? Please note that SPOCC 8 (Jan 2010) will have new features to support multiple funding streams and individual budgets.
4. Do you think we should change the name of SPOCC, or keep it and simply rebrand the strap-line and logo?

Please could you send me your comments by the 3rd July. Even better, you could post your feedback as a reply here, so that other people can view and comment on your feedback.

Thank you and kind regards,

Luke & John

[Dawn Field]

1. Do you think rebranding SPOCC is a good idea?
In Hampshire we do think this is a really good idea - we are currently working with other teams within the Council whao are interested in using our SPOCC system but there are a few being put off by the SP - I think we would have more success selling it more widely to our colleagues if it were to reflect the LAA rather than simply SP - maybe something along the line of LAA-OCC
2. What types of services are you planning to manage within your Community Contract teams?
In Hampshire we are already managing our DAAT and Telecare contracts in SPOCC and will be adding some Community Safety Contracts later this year. We are also in discussions with Adult Services and Childrens; services about which of their non care provision contracts could be monitored in SPOCC

3. Are there any changes to SPOCC that we should make to support this process? Please note that SPOCC 8 (Jan 2010) will have new features to support multiple funding streams and individual budgets
I think there will need to be additional fields added, and the possibility of different types of PI (or LPI) monitoring workbooks being downloaded and uploaded via SPOCC.net

4. Do you think we should change the name of SPOCC, or keep it and simply rebrand the strap-line and logo?
My personal opinion is as above - we should change the name - time to thinkl of another clever accronym Luke - am sure you can do better than my attempt above!