Agenda item

Attending for this item were:

Worcestershire County Council:

·         Paula Furnival, Strategic Director of People

·         Rebecca Wassell, Assistant Director for Commissioning

·         Kerry McCrossan, Assistant Director for Adult Social Care

·         Rebecca Rothwell, Commissioning Manager

Worcestershire Children First - Sarah Wilkins, Director of Education and Early Help

Three representatives from the Voluntary and Community Sector addressed the Panel:

Anne Duddington (Chair of Worcestershire Parent and Carers Community (WPCC)) was a carer for her son who had a severe learning disability and complex health and care needs and was a longstanding member of the Carers Partnership.   WPCC had been founded 15 years ago as a voluntary sector organisation to support parent carers and young people who had disabilities and additional needs, since carers faced intense pressures during a lifetime of caring. WPCC supported approximately 800 individuals (200 member families) and assisted with plans for development of services.

Anne endorsed the principle of an all-age strategy, the main generic outcomes and also endorsed the expertese of Worcestershire Association of Carers and Worcestershire Young Carers (YSS) which delivered the current contracts for carers.

The draft Strategy in its present form was not yet accessible as an everyday document for both professionals and carers and Anne referred to the fact that it was wordy and difficult to navigate, did not feel meaningful to carers, and lacked a timeline and details for the Action Plan and the key performance indicators agreed by the Health and Well-being Board. There were detailed points concerning inaccurate references to legislation, confusing use of figures and loss of some key features which had been very useful and given meaning. Appendix 5 (Carers Strategic and Engagement Groups) did not feature the Scrutiny Board or the role of WPCC and Appendix 6 (Map of Carer Support) was useful but incomplete.

However, Anne highlighted her appreciation for the work which had gone into producing the Strategy to date, appreciated there would be further amendments and she assured the Panel of WPCC’s willingness to be part of any continuing work both now and in implementing and monitoring the Strategy.

Judy Adams (Carers Action Worcestershire) spoke as a member of Carers Action Worcestershire Consortium which included the county’s five carer focused organisations (WPCC, YSS Worcestershire Young Carers, Crossroads Caring for Carers, Carers Careline (Redditch) and Worcestershire Association of Carers. The Consortium had contributed to the consultation on the Strategy and the inclusion of consultation comments showed a willingness to engage and listen. The Consortium was very pleased that the Strategy remained all-age, which was so important at transition points for example when young carers became adult carers, as well as recognising that many people have multiple caring roles.

Disappointment was expressed at the lack of opportunity for carers to review this latest version of the Strategy before it was presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Panel, and it was hoped this could take place before the Health and Well-being Board. Additionally, the fact that funding for the Integrated Carers Hub had remained the same for five years was in effect a budget reduction.

Areas requiring clarification included which organisations would be signing up to the Strategy (the ‘we’?), the role of the NHS, whether the outcomes reviewed by carers could be made clearer, whether the section on prevention could be summarised to be clearer to carers, how the action plan would be developed and more explanation about links to other strategies. It would also be very helpful to include an updated version of the ‘Strategy on a page’.

Carole Cumino, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Association of Carers (WAC) perceived the Strategy as a ‘rough diamond’ in that everything was there but needed shaping to be more understable.

The Chairman thanked the individuals for their attendance and contribution and asked that statements be passed to the Officers present for them to respond to any questions which were not answered during the Panel’s discussion.

The Strategic Director of People also thanked the individuals for their contributions which were very helpful and acknowledged that the draft document needed to become more user-friendly, therefore comments from this discussion would be taken on board and there would be further liaison with WAC.

Rebecca Rothwell, Commissioning Manager talked through the Agenda report and explained the rationale for the Strategy, the vision, values, approach, priorities and commitment to carers, stakeholder feedback, governance, monitoring and reporting of progress of delivery and accountability.

The Strategy had been co-produced with a whole spectrum of carers including parent carers, young carers and young adult carers and a range of other key stakeholders, with good, helpful feedback. The rationale was to minimise the gap between Adult and Children’s Services and to work in partnership to provide a more integrated offer to carers because the vision and outcomes were the same albeit supported in very different ways.   The Strategy was not intended to be static and delivery would be under Worcestershire’s Health and Wellbeing Board with multi agency groups to implement. Whilst the Strategy was important, the Commissioning Manager believed the Action Plan would be key to making a difference to carers’ lives.

Key outcomes had been retained from the previous Strategy as the overwhelming feedback indicated their ongoing relevance, with carers wanting to be treated as experts, be appreciated and be involved.

Development of the Strategy had included research of good practice for carers support and one of the biggest changes would be incorporation of NICE (National Institute for Health and care Excellence) guidelines. It was also important to make reference to the five key pieces of legislation as carers often did not realise that support for them was a legal responsibility.

While the Council could only fulfil what was within its remit, the expectation was that all partners would sign up to the Strategy and the Action Plan would be on the website. Regarding funding, further to the figures set out in the report, it would be necessary to explore other funding opportunities.

Moving forward, the Strategy would be amended based on feedback from the Panel’s discussion and the new version would be more user-friendly.

Comment was invited from the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Adult Social Care, who explained that whilst he was not the portfolio holder for the Strategy (which came under the CMR for Health and Well-being), in answer to the query about who was the ‘we’ in the narrative, he suggested it referred to everyone who provided support to carers. He also stressed the fact that the Strategy was a work in progress and agreed that a much simpler document was needed for carers.

The Chairman invited discussion and the following main points were raised:

·         When asked whether there was a single point of access for carers, it was explained that adults could self-refer to WAC, which would then come through to adult social care contact team – for children, assuming a child was in school, part of schools’ role was to identify young carers requiring additional support and to contact Worcestershire Young Carers (YSS).

·         In response to a follow up query that this process may be too much and whether a single access point for all would be preferable, the Officers advised that the Adult and Children’s carer hubs provided support and information and liaised with all the relevant agencies.

·         When asked about young carers whowere hard to reach, the Director of Education and Early Help acknowledged that while there was data around the number of young carers, there was more that could be done and the Action Plan would help to understand who the young carers were, data would be gathered from young carer providers. Schools had a role in promoting awareness of young carers, understanding their experience was key.  It was important to ensure that the impact on their education was minimal and that they had the opportunity to get involved with positive activities.  

·         Regarding success in reaching carers across diverse communities, schools played a role in this and Officers were not aware of any particular issues.

·         A Panel member endorsed the comments made by the carer representatives present and stressed the importance of plain English so that the Strategy was accessible to everyone in particular those new to the system, and the Officers gave assurances that this would be taken on board.

·         Members asked whether the Strategy would also be presented to the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Panel (CFOSP), and the Chairman explained that members of that Panel had been invited to the discussion today. The Scrutiny Co-ordinator advised that the discussion had been set up as joint between the two Panels and although unfortunately the Chairman of the Children and Families OSP was unable to attend, two members present were on both Panels. Further consideration by the CFOSP may depend on the timeline for the Health and Well-being Board.

·         A Panel member sought clarification about tender arrangements for the contract for the carers service specification including whether the specification was clear and how potential conflicts of interest were managed. The WAC Chief Executive clarified that the carer hub was currently run by WAC, which was also an independent charity. She was very clear about the specification and explained how the Council held her organisation to account for its delivery of the contract, for example looking at the number of carers being supported in each district. WAC also held detailed statistics.

·         The reference to TUPE was queried and whether a service change was involved, and it was explained that this related to an implication of implementation of the Strategy and that professional advice from Human Resources would be followed

·         When asked what statistics there were around raising carer awareness, the Director of Education and Early Help explained that one tool was to look at numbers who had contacted YSS – an organisation which had a long history of supporting young carers in Worcestershire as well as a strong national presence. Additionally, a recent audit of schools indicated they were good at recognising their role in identifying young carers. Linkage of the SEND Strategy and All Age Disability Strategy was also important, as well as raising awareness about identification of need, signposting and the safety of very young carers.

·         A Panel member pointed out the disparity between increased need and the fact that the budget for the Carer Hub remained the same.

·         The Assistant Director for Commissioning highlighted the huge amount of work undertaken by the Officers involved in co-ordinating the Strategy.

The following actions were agreed:

·         The Statements from Anne Duddington and Judy Adams would be forwarded to the People Directorate as feedback on the draft Strategy, and for the Directorate to respond to any outstanding questions

·         Sight of the Action Plan was requested, which the Officers advised would follow once the Strategy was finalised, and would be updated annually.

·         An easy read plain English version of the Strategy for non-professionals including councillors

·         The members of the Children & Families OSP who were present would report back to that Panel in order that any further scrutiny of the draft Strategy be agreed.