Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr A Kent.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by e-mail indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case Wednesday 5 January 2022).  Further details are available on the Council's website.  Enquiries can also be made through the telephone number/e-mail address listed on the website and in the agenda.

There were three public participants; Susan Picton, John Duddington and Phil Swarbrick who attended as family carers with experience of three different social care settings; residential care, supported living and support from personal assistants. They detailed the difficulties in recruiting and retaining social care staff for their adult children who had learning disabilities and complex needs. Cabinet were asked to urgently address the issues of poor pay and conditions in the care sector that had led to a huge recruitment and retention crisis and to look at the inadequate funding and support for family carers.

The Chairman thanked the public participants for attending the Cabinet meeting and assured them that their message had been heard.

The Minutes of the meeting of 9 December 2021 have been previously circulated.

It was agreed that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 December 2021 were an accurate reflection of the meeting and were signed by the Chairman,.

The Leader, also the Cabinet Member with responsibility for finance, introduced the report. He highlighted that the budget report was being launched for consultation and noted that the contributions from the Public Participants had been welcomed. The draft budget proposed record investment in adult and children’s social care with the gross budget to rise by £25 million. The budget would address issues raised by the public such as roads, pavements and congestion. Economic growth would be supported as well as the environment. A 2-year capital programme of £130 million was also proposed. The Council’s income was rising by £30 million and Council Tax would rise by £1 a week on an average band D property, but the maximum increase was not being proposed as it was recognised people were already facing rising costs. The County Council continued to have one of the lowest Council tax rates in the country. The budget would return to Cabinet and then Council in February.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Social Care felt the public participants had eloquently reflected the difficult position of Adult Social Care and outlined the position they faced. The care market was in a precarious position with a lack of pay and increased demand due to an aging demographic. He praised the unsung heroes, such as the public participants, who dedicated their lives to looking after others and thanked all the carers for their efforts during the pandemic. He gave reassurance that the Council was in a strong financial position and even after dealing with the increased costs of the pandemic a near neutral financial position would have been achieved towards the end of this financial year. The Government had not given a three-year settlement but the £6.1 million uplift in social care grant, the raising of Council Tax by 3% and the potential of receiving an increased percentage of the Better Care Fund by working more closely with Health in the Integrated Care System, were all positive.

In response to one of the queries raised by a public participant it was clarified that people would be helped to access the Council’s Commissioning Unit if they wished. The Adult Care budget would be increased by £17.1 million, the majority going into the Learning Disability area and it was reiterated that the Council would listen to comments about the budget and they were keen to consult on it.

The Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Children and Families felt credit should be given for producing a balanced budget for this year. He felt it was reasonable for the public to look at where the increased council tax money would be going, with the answer that three quarters of the increase would be going towards helping the most vulnerable in society. Tribute was paid to the Director of Children’s Services who was leading the successful improvement strategy which was contributing to helping families stay together and doing the best for the child, which had led to Worcestershire having the lowest number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2070.