Council and democracy

Supporting People appeals process for providers

The Provider may appeal against the Value for Money review based on one or more of the following grounds:

• not all the relevant facts have been considered
• the service review procedure has not been adhered to
• consideration has not been given to the wider strategic relevance

Appeals Procedure

If the Provider wishes to appeal against matters referred to above, then the Provider will be required to comply with stage 1 (Local and early stage resolution) and where required move through to stage 2 (Unresolved dispute).

Stage 1 – Local and early resolution

• On receipt of the Value for Money review letter from Supporting People, the Provider should confirm in writing or verbally to the Review Officer that they wish to make an appeal and ask for a stage 1 appeals meeting.
• A meeting will be arranged between the Authorised Officer, Review Officer and the Contract Manager to resolve the dispute.
• A minute taker will be present at the meeting to take detailed minutes inclusive of any resolution, which will be authorised by the Authorised Officer and the Contract Manager.
• The Authorised Officer will write within 21 days of the meeting to confirm the decisions made.

Stage 2 – Unresolved dispute

• Should the matter remain unresolved within 21 days of the stage 1 appeal meeting, the Provider should appeal in writing to the Authorised Officer and this will be heard within 14 days by the Appeals Panel.
• The Appeals Panel will be made up of members of the Commissioning Body and should be chaired by either a representative from a neighbouring Administering Authority or a representative of the Council’s Client Relations. The Appeals Panel may also request an ‘expert advisor’ from the existing Supporting People Team. This representative will have had no direct involvement with the Provider’s Service Review.
• If the service concerned is one provided by an organisation represented on the Commissioning Body, that representative will not be entitled to vote on the appeal outcome.
• The Authorised Officer will notify the Provider within 7 days of the Commissioning Body meeting detailing reasons for their decision (upheld, rejected or modified), which will be final. Or the Commissioning Body may refer the matter back to Supporting People for implementation of a further service review.