Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Mr J W Parish.

Cllr Griffiths declared an interest in Item 5 as a family member worked with an individual who may be eligible for a Personal Budget.

Cllr Fry declared an interest as an employee of a care home in Worcestershire.

Members of the public wishing to take part should notify the Director of Resources 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 10 November 2014). Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address below.

None.

Previously circulated

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 1 July 2014 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Director and Cabinet Member responsible for Adult Social Care had been invited to attend and discuss proposals emerging from Corporate Strategy Planning (CSP) sessions in September 2014.

The Director gave a presentation and began by reminding Members that the intended outcomes of the Future Lives programme were to:

·         Promote health and independence

·         Reduce the need for adult social care

·         Allow greater choice and control for service users

·         Maximise the quality and productivity of services

·         Achieve the required savings

·         Make sure that the County Council comply with their legal duties, especially those new duties under the Care Act.

The outcomes would be achieved through various programmes, some of which Members were familiar with, such as 'Keeping Well', 'Integrated Recovery Services' and 'New Models of Care'. 

Underpinning the programmes were key enablers, such as digital access and inclusion, safeguarding and quality assurance, engagement and communication.

Ultimately, adult social care would work in a different way, with more emphasis placed on information, advice and guidance, self-service for early help and assessment, and improved management of individual cases.

The Directorate's controllable budget was £135m for front line services as £6m was taken centrally.  Future Lives was expected to produce a saving of £32m by 2017 and was on target to achieve savings of £13m this financial year.  Following CSP discussions, additional savings of £5.6m had to be achieved by 2018 and there was to be a reduction of £1m in funding for demographic pressures in 2015/16.  Across the whole County Council, a further £5m needed to be found for 2015/16 and nearly £40m for the period 2016 to 2019.

The Care Act was a fundamental reform of adult social care effective from 1 April 2015.  The regulations had been published later than expected, on 23 October 2014.  Additional cost pressures were expected but were difficult to predict, although the Director suggested they could be in the region of £13m over the next two years.  Funding of £5m had been allocated by the Government for 2015/16 but it was anticipated a further £8m would need to be found in 2016/17.  There would be a briefing to all members on the Care Act in January.

Directorate specific proposals were circulated as part of the agenda and included:

·         County Enterprises – a proposed saving of £0.1m in 2017/18.  Early discussions were taking place with the Business, Economy and Community Directorate which was taking on this area

·         Maintaining a Sustainable Market – a proposed saving of around £1.5m.  An ongoing workstream which engages with service users and providers to provide greater choice and control

·         Integration of Adult Social Care and the NHS – many integration projects were underway, including assessment, care plans and public engagement, with the Health and Well Being Board agreeing expenditure of the Better Care Fund

·         Use of the Public Health ring-fenced grant – a proposed saving of £2.5m in 2015/16, by reviewing priorities and, where appropriate, using some of the Public Health grant to pay for some prevention and early help services

·         Further  ...  view the full minutes text for item 172.

At its meeting on 1 July 2014, Members considered performance for the Directorate of Adult Services and Health (DASH) for the year 2013/14.  For the year ending 31 March 2014, although the direction of travel was improving, the sickness rate for DASH was higher than other Directorates of the County Council and Members had asked for further information.

The Senior Human Resources Adviser talked through the information provided as part of the agenda and highlighted the following key points:

·         Although sickness rates had been higher in DASH, absence had steadily fallen year on year and had been reduced by 39% since 2009/10

·         Small numbers of long term sickness absence account for high average rates in some teams

·         Reasons for absence across Adult Social Care are fairly typical of the rest of the Council.

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

·         The Council had a sickness absence policy, which was applicable to all employees and there was an expectation that managers would apply the policy in all circumstances.  The "Seven" Policy was a set of procedures for managing short term and long term sickness absence.  Examples were given, including return to work interviews, interventions such as coaching and a host of training opportunities which may help long term

·         Stress and Mental Health reasons accounted for approximately 20% of absence across the whole organisation, regardless of service area

·         Members were content with the direction of travel, requested further data when available and were pleased to hear that procedures were in place for all employees.