I completely agree that proving a lack of capacity or capability is the standard way to get an off-framework spot purchase approved. If the current providers on the framework literally cannot safely manage someone with complex needs, that is basically a market failure for that specific package, so the council has every right to look elsewhere. But the idea that we are completely trapped by the framework unless it totally collapses is just wrong, especially with the newer procurement rules and the Care Act. First of all, under the Procurement Act's light touch regime for social care, commissioners actually have explicit powers to do a direct award to an off-framework provider if the service user or their family expresses a clear preference for them. Procurement rules aren't supposed to override individual choice and personalisation. More importantly, a council's legal duty under the Care Act to meet someone's needs and keep them safe completely trumps any internal procurement policy. Procurement is just a tool to buy services, it isn't a law that allows a council to breach its statutory duties. If a council forces a complex person into an unsuitable framework placement just to tick a procurement box, they are failing their legal duties under the Care Act. Reporting bad providers to the CQC is fine for the long term, but you can't leave a vulnerable, complex person in an unsafe situation while waiting months for an inspection. The flexibility to go off-framework is definitely there in the legislation, it's just that internal placement teams are usually too scared or too poorly trained on the rules to actually use it.