Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Mr P Grove.

None.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, in writing or by email indicating the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 12 October 2015). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

None.

Previously circulated

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Head of Adult Social Care had been invited to provide an update on 'Future Lives', the Council's major change programme for adult social care.

By way of presentation, Members were provided with a summary of progress made to date and ongoing work for the various strands of the programme.

Promote health and independence

·         The 'Your Life Your Choice' website was launched in April 2015 to provide information and advice and although not yet completed, was proving very useful in signposting individuals and groups to support their needs

·         There was a review planned to ensure information provided was kept up to date

·         Work was ongoing to develop community resilience and volunteering, although this area of work was now being undertaken by a different Directorate

·         The Digital Inclusion Strategy had not yet been implemented, although it was widely acknowledged that there was a need to ensure full community engagement

·         Well-being was now embedded in social work practice since it became a duty of the Care Act from April 2015.

Reduce the need for adult social care

·         In general, adults are living longer after retirement and work is ongoing to keep older people independent as long as possible, without the need for adult social care

·         A review of the base budget for prevention services had taken place and there had been a review of integrated recovery services, which was part of the Better Care Fund

·         Work was ongoing in relation to the cuts to the Public Health Ring Fenced Grant.  This was an unexpected in year budget reduction which was causing some concern for the Council as a whole

·         Integrated Recovery services were in the process of being recommissioned as part of the Council's intention to become a strategic commissioning authority.  This included provision such as the Timberdine Rehabilitation Centre.

Allow greater choice and control for service users

·         32% of people take a direct payment with more residents expected to do so over time

·         The 'Your Life Your Choice' resource had over 300 services available on it, with the intention that more services become available

·         There would be a need to review personalisation systems.

Maximise the quality and productivity of services

·         For both internal and commissioned services, quality assurance policy and procedures had been established

·         Projects had been completed in the areas of supported living and extra care

·         Oxford Brookes University was carrying out research on the local care market and the impact of the introduction of the Living Wage for social care workers and would report shortly

·         New technologies was an area of work which would need to be constantly reviewed due to the ever changing market and opportunity.

Comply with our legal duties

·         It had already been noted that the Care Act changes had been embedded since its introduction in April 2015, however, it was noted that phase 2 changes had been deferred until 2020

·         Time had been invested in informing Social Workers of their new legal obligations.

Savings

·         For the current  ...  view the full minutes text for item 200.

The Independent Chair of the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) had been invited to discuss progress and developments over the past year, including the Board's Annual Report 2014-2015.  Accompanying the Chair was the newly appointed Interim Board Manager.

The presentation revealed the following main points:

·         The Annual Report for 2014/15 had been published before the introduction of the Care Act and highlighted the need to ensure the WSAB was compliant from 1 April 2015

·         Board Membership had changed in April 2014, and would continue to be refreshed to see it shift from being operational to strategic

·         New governance arrangements were put in place and a new Chair had been appointed from October 2014

·         Of the 9 objectives listed for 2014/15, there had been some notable successes, including the development of partnerships and stakeholder events.  These provided the opportunity to conduct quality assurance and share knowledge and best practice and raise the profile of the work of the WSAB

·         Learning from previous work was another area where progress had been made and sharing learning from serious case reviews was developing well and seen as good practice

·         Developing a multi-agency Mental Capacity Competency framework was a further notable success

·         During the reporting period, the number of alerts had increased, however, the number of cases being referred had decreased.  This suggested increased public awareness which was a positive step forward

·         In the main, data was provided by the County Council, however, moving forward, the Board would wish to include data from other agencies and would wish to do more triangulation to ensure information was credible

·         New multi-agency threshold guidance had been introduced, meaning low level concerns were not actioned

·         The trends seen generally reflected the demographics of the County in terms of age and gender, however, cases within ethnic groups were under-reported

·         Nationally, physical abuse and neglect were the highest types of abuse and Worcestershire was no different

·         Due to new Care Act duties, self-neglect reporting was now necessary

·         The number of referrals from the public, hospitals and the independent sector had increased, suggesting that it may be linked to the impact of the Winterbourne View enquiry

·         Worcestershire was in line with other authorities in relation to cases of mental capacity and deprivation of liberty

Moving forward the Chair highlighted that the 2015/16 Strategic Plan was well developed and would include:

·         Further opportunities to hold partners to account, especially given the introduction of the Care Act from April 2015

·         Awareness raising with residents, with opportunities for public involvement in decision making

·         Assurance from partners that policies, procedures and practice were fit for purpose

·         Greater involvement in learning lessons from previous cases

·         Improved working relationships with agencies such as Worcestershire Children's Safeguarding Board and the Community Safety Partnerships

·         Developing an understanding of local risks to Worcestershire

In relation to the next Annual Report, its focus would report back on the delivery of the Strategic Plan, with opportunities to make the report easier to read and more accessible, including a summary for wider circulation.

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 201.