Agendas, Meetings and Minutes - Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: County Hall, Worcester

Contact: Emma James /Jo Weston  Overview & Scrutiny Officers

Items
No. Item

236.

Apologies and Welcome

Minutes:

Apologies had been received from Cllrs Bloore, Grove and Rayner.

 

237.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Cllr Griffiths declared an interest as her daughter was employed in the care profession.

 

 

238.

Public Participation

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 18 November 2016). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

Minutes:

None.

 

239.

Confirmation of the Minutes of the Previous Meeting

Previously circulated

Minutes:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 October 2016 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

 

240.

Futurefit - Proposals for Change and Reform to Support the Medium Term Financial Plan: Adult Social Care pdf icon PDF 149 KB

Minutes:

Attending for this Item were:

Councillor Sheila Blagg, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Social Care

Sander Kristel, Director of Adult Services

Richard Keble, Strategic Commissioner – Adult Services

 

By way of introduction, the Cabinet Member highlighted that over the last four years there had been a number of changes in adult social care, not only with the introduction of the Care Act, but also a national shift towards independent living in older age and for those with specific needs.  Funding continued to be challenging and the future was uncertain given the need to further integrate health and social care.

 

The Director provided a presentation, which outlined:

·         The Gross Budget for 2016/17 is £201m, with £130m allocated for services for Older People and Adults with Learning Disabilities

·         Good quality services are being provided to around 6,600 service users, a fact recognised by the Care Quality Commission

·         Of these, 1,209 people had been supported to remain in their own home after leaving hospital and of those service users with Learning Disabilities, 77% were living independently

·         The budget was under continuing pressure due a number of reasons, including demographics, the number of adults with more complex health and social care needs, inflation and costs associated with the National Living Wage and issues with recruitment

·         The Corporate Strategy Planning process had highlighted a number of strands which could provide savings and provide better outcomes for service users, these included:

o   further work was required with providers on ways of contracting

o   continue to work on independent living models

o   increase the use of technology and effective use of equipment

o   work more closely with health partners and consider joint commissioning, being mindful of the recently submitted Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP)

o   work more with carers, families and service users to better plan care and enable increasing independence

o   build stronger relations with the voluntary and community sector

o   invest in staff and strengthen values.

 

In the ensuing discussion, the following main points were raised:

 

·         The Panel Chairman reminded Members that the budget was the largest of the Council's Directorates, yet its income was complicated and expenditure uncertain due to changes in funding sources and population need.  In addition, Department of Health funding was not announced until later in the year, which clashed with the Council's medium term financial planning process

·         The Care Act had introduced duties which although had attracted initial funding, needed to be sustained.  Reference was made to the 2016 increase in Council Tax to boost adult social care budgets and whether the concept could be repeated

·         Everyone agreed that Health funding was complex and it was noted that some services which were previously provided by health partners were now the responsibility of the Council to deliver   

·         Directorate Reserves had depleted and although around £5.29m remained, it was designed to be utilised in emergency situations.  Members felt that the Directorate was unique as the demand for services could not be predicted and Reserves should not be relied upon to deliver  ...  view the full minutes text for item 240.

241.

Safeguarding Adults pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes:

In attendance from the Worcestershire Safeguarding Adults Board (WSAB) were:

Kathy McAteer, WSAB Independent Chair

Bridget Brickley, WSAB Manager

 

A presentation summarised the activity of the Board in the previous twelve months.  Key points included:

·         The 2015/2016 Annual Report was the first statutory report following the introduction of the Care Act

·         Board Membership had been refined to ensure an effective Board and included a wide range of agencies across the County

·         Seven objectives had been identified in the 2015/16 Strategic Plan and progress was reported as positive overall, including strategies for communication and engagement with both key partners and communities being developed

·         The Board had assurance that all Member agencies were Care Act compliant, that Staff training was updated and beginning to be embedded and if external provider contracts were issued, that safeguarding requirements were also embedded

·         Five Case Reviews were completed and lessons had been learned.  Mental Capacity was a common theme and as a result, this area would become a priority for 2016/17

·         2,653 Concerns had been received, however it was important to note that the figure could not be compared to the 3,662 Alerts received the previous year to a change in definition and how these are managed under the new Care Act

·         In the majority of cases, Concerns were raised by Care Staff, either in a Care Home or Domiciliary Care, or those employed in the Health profession

·         The types of abuse reported was a similar pattern to the previous year, with Physical Abuse and Neglect being the highest

·         There had been a slight reduction in abuse in the persons own home and in care homes, though most abuse continues to be reported as occurring within the persons own home

·         It was suggested that under-reporting continued in Black, Minority and Ethnic communities and it was often challenging to engage with adults with care and support needs who have had experience of safeguarding processes

·         Priorities for 2016/17 included improving communication with the public and partners, build on cross-cutting work already taking place and to check Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards were properly understood and being fully used

·         There was a risk that Board objectives may not be fully achieved if Member organisations do not have capacity to support the work of the Board.

 

The Chairman thanked the WSAB Chair and in the following Member discussion, key points included:

·         Although the 2015/16 Annual Report was the first statutory report, the Panel had received previous reports and it was clear that the Chair was building on existing work undertaken

·         There was a lot of cross cutting work, across all Agencies, including for example, modern slavery and child sexual exploitation.  Transition between children's safeguarding and adult safeguarding was also important and a joint workshop had been held

·         Data was now able to be shared securely across organisations and regular information from all agencies was submitted for assurance and monitoring

·         Further work with faith groups was being planned to highlight the work of the Board and ways of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 241.