To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Social Care, Health & Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 22 November 2010 and to note actions taken since that meeting.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Social Care, Health & Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 22 November 2010 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

To receive from Members any declarations and the nature thereof in relation to:-

(a)    personal interests in any agenda item

(b)    personal and prejudicial interests in any agenda item

(c)     any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

The Chairman had one announcement that SEPT had acquired the Bedfordshire Community Health Services and Luton had chosen Cambridge for their service.

To receive petitions from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

The Chairman announced that no petitions had been referred to this meeting.

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

The Chairman announced that no questions, statements or deputations had been received.

To consider any decision of the Executive referred to this Committee for review  in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.10 of Part D2.  

The Chairman announced that no call-ins had been referred to this Committee.

To consider any items referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

The Chairman confirmed that no requests for agenda items had been received.

To receive verbal updates from the Portfolio Holder for Social Care and Health and the Portfolio Holder for Housing.

The Chairman requested an update from each Portfolio Holder in attendance be provided to the Committee.

Cllr Mrs Carole Hegley, Portfolio Holder for Social Care and Health informed members that her updates would be given as the agenda was discussed.  This would include  an update on reablement services.

Cllr Mrs Rita Drinkwater, Portfolio Holder for Housing provided members with an update on a visit with Officers to the McCarthy & Stone private residential care facility.  Central Bedfordshire Council would continue to speak with McCarthy & Stone about possible community placements but at the present time this seemed unlikely.

To receive an update from Bedfordshire LINk on local health matters influencing LINk activity as defined by the Health and Social Care Act 2001.

The Committee welcomed Max Coleman, Chairman of Bedfordshire LINk.  Mr Coleman was the new representative following Mr Smith's departure.

The Committee noted that LINk was continuing to work well but had concerns regarding future funding.  In addition, the split of Bedfordshire LINk has resulted in the availability of fewer volunteer workers. 

RESOLVED

that the report from LINk be noted.

To receive a report setting out the financial position to the end of September 2010 and the latest forecast position in the Social Care Health and Housing Directorate.

The Committee received and considered the report which set out the financial position to the end of September 2010. The Assistant Director Business & Performance informed the Committee that the overspend had reduced from Quarter 1 and stood at £0.574m. 

Members were informed that within Adult Social Care service pressure occurs due to the increases in demography and as a result of the complexity of need which have both contributed to the increased cost. It was important to recognise that no budget provision was made available for this pressure in relation to older people in the 2010/11 budget setting process.

For Adults with a Learning Disability the Directorate has seen an increase of 35 services users who have moved from Children’s Services into Adult services.  It is estimated that each service users care package costs the Council on average £30,000 per annum.    

In respect of the Housing General Fund whilst the number of enquiries of a homeless nature have increased over the past few months, the council has been able to manage this without incurring additional costs.

For the Capital programme, the Assistant Director Business & Performance confirmed that despite the year to date variance on spend all budgets were on track although slippage was expected on the Timberlands project. 

It was noted that there was a forecast overspend on Disabled Facility Grants (DFGs).  The Director of Social Care, Health & Housing explained that the Council had placed additional funding into DFGs following the work to reduce the Occupational Therapy Waiting List.    It was noted that there had originally been over 500 people on the waiting list and with a dedicated drive this had been reduced to just over 50 people.

The Director of Social Care, Health and Housing confirmed that investment was being made in reablement to reduce the dependence of people using care services.  There had been a reduction in reviews undertake to allow more work on individual service user assessments and that she anticipated that the performance in reviews would improve in the next report.

RESOLVED

1. that the forecast outturn of £51.541m and projected £0.574m overspend be noted.

2. that further management actions to bring the projected overspend back into balance were noted.

To receive the outcome of the work to review Central Bedfordshire’s Base Budget, an outline of the Directorate’s activities and savings proposals for 2011/12.

Note: Please bring your copy of the Executive Agenda for the meeting held on 7 December 2010 as you will need to refer to it when considering this item.

The Committee received and considered the report which set out the outcome of the work to review Central Bedfordshire's Base Budget, an outline of the Directorate's activities and savings proposals for 2011/12.

The Assistant Director Business & Performance informed the Committee that the whole budget had been reviewed and extrapolated forward for 2011/12 and this had resulted in an additional £2.2m being required.  The main reasons for the additional funding were demographic pressures, people living longer with more complex need and the increase in the number of people coming into Adult Social care with learning disabilities. 

There were five further proposed supplementary efficiencies which were as follows:-

SCHH19 - Supplementary - Remodelling of the Assessment and Care Management Teams - Efficiency

Central Bedfordshire is looking at providing people with personal budgets and allowing officers to concentrate on the more complex cases.  This would mean a further reduction in the number of professionally qualified staff and an increase in Community Support Workers. 

The Committee supported the proposed efficiency

SCHH20 - Supplementary - Remodelling of services for People with Learning Disabilities - Efficiency

The current Domiciliary Care (including Respite Services) and Assessment & Resettlement service supports adults with learning disabilities in supported living environments.  The proposal is for a more effective use of staffing resources by combining teams serving these customers.

The Committee supported the proposed efficiency

SCHH21 - Supplementary - Learning Disabilities Commissioning Transfer - Efficiency

The Health Service has transferred funding of £9.6m to the Council to cover the costs of contracts and care packages for adults with learning disabilities.   The proposal would produce approximately £100k savings through contract efficiencies.

The Committee supported the proposed efficiency

SCHH22 - Supplementary - Reduction in the Transforming Peoples Lives Service - Efficiency

The project stage of the Transforming Peoples Lives Service has been completed and there is a need to integrate and embed the new working practices as business as usual.  The efficiency will be achieved through staff reduction and will not have an impact on customers.

The Committee supported the proposed efficiency.

SCHH23 - Supplementary - Management Review of the Commissioning & Partnership team - efficiency

The team provides strategic commissioning contract monitoring and compliance and service user participation.  A review of the team to be carried out with a reduction of two full time equivalents to be achieved (£50,000).

The Committee supported the proposed efficiency

The Portfolio Holder for Social Care and Health commended the work on the Base Budget exercise.

RESOLVED

that the base budget build and savings proposals be considered and no feedback provided.

To receive a report setting out the performance to the end of September 2010 in the Social Care Health and Housing Directorate.

The Committee considered the Quarter 2 Performance Monitoring report for the Social Care, Health and Housing Directorate up to and including 30 September 2010.  The report had previously been considered by the Executive at the 7 December 2010 meeting.

The Director of Social Care, Health and Housing confirmed that there had been improvements since September.  It was noted that the software problems had been resolved and reporting would be accurate and timely.

Social Care Indicators

NI 136 – People supported to live independently (per 100,000 pop)

Members were informed that this indicator is also related to NI130 and NI135.   Work is continuing to accurately reflect customers helped to live independently.

NI 130 – Clients receiving self directed support

Members were informed of this indicator being set as a Local Area Agreement with the target of 30%.  Although the published year to date figure is shown as 15.8%, the Director of Social Care, Health and Housing informed the Committee that the performance to the end of November is 28.3%.  With a year end target set at 30%, the Director offered the Committee confidence that this indicator will be met.

NI 135 – Carer’s receiving needs assessment or review and a specific carer’s service or advice and information.

The published year to date figure is shown as18.9%.  The Director of Social Care, Health and Housing informed the Committee that the target to the end of November is over 20%.  The year end target has been set at 30%

D40 – Clients receiving a review

The Director of Social Care, Health and Housing informed the Committee that although this target has fallen in quarter 2, this is due to the change in work of the review officers concentrating on assessments.  The Director offered the Committee confidence that this indicator will show an acceptable recovery in quarter 3.

NI 125 – Achieving independence for older people through rehabilitation / intermediate care. 

The Director informed the Committee that this is a new indicator and information is required from the PCT in order to provide meaningful reporting and as yet was not forthcoming.

Average time taken for Safeguarding Of Vulnerable Adults (SOVA) investigation (days)

The reduction of the performance of this measure is due to some longstanding investigations where the police and other agencies are involved.  The Director informed the Committee that in instances such as these the target time can extend from days to years in some complex cases.  As such this has impacted on the performance reported. 

Housing Indicators

NI 156b –  Number of Households living in temporary accommodation (households with dependents / pregnant)

The Director informed the Committee of the strain on this service due to a rise in the number of residents presenting themselves as homeless.  Mainly due to the national economic climate the Portfolio Holder for Housing informed Members of the range of preventative measures employed by officers to mitigate those experiencing a change in circumstance. 

NI 158 – Percentage of non decent homes (Council Stock)

The Committee were informed of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 217.

To be informed of the outcomes of the recovery programme to date.

The Committee received and considered the performance report in Adult Social Care services following the annual assessment by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  The CQC require the outcome of the performance assessment be reported to the Executive.  Central Bedfordshire received a rating of adequate having rated well in 3 areas and adequate in 4 areas and this was reported to the Executive on the 7 December 2010.  This was a significant improvement in performance as the report stated that the legacy Councils performance had deteriorated.

The CQC continually assess Councils with Social Care responsibilities. Central Bedfordshire met six weekly with CQC during 2009/10 due to the level of concern around standards and performance.  The report was very positive and shows that if the commitment of the Council continues then prospects for further improvement are excellent.

It was noted that a peer review of safeguarding adults would be carried out at the Council’s request to enable an assessment and confirm achievements whilst identifying areas which still need to improve.

RESOLVED

that the contents of the report be noted.

To receive an overview of the key issues in complaint handling for Adult Social Care for the period 2009/10.

The Committee received and considered the report which provided an overview of the key issues in complaint handling for Adult Social Care for the period 2009/10. 

The annual report includes the following:-

·        The number of complaints received

·        The number that were well founded

·        The number referred to the Local Government Ombudsman; and

·        A summary of the subject matter of complaints received; matters of general importance arising or in the way complaints are handled; any matter where action is to be taken to improve services as a consequence of complaints.

The Director of Social Care, Health and Housing confirmed that the number of complaints had been fairly low and should be looked on as gifts as they help identify areas of the service which need attention.  The Customer Relations Manager had provided the 10 top tips to respond to a letter and quality has improved. It was proposed that the report be provided on a six monthly basis.

RESOLVED

that the report be noted.

To receive and consider the Social Care Health and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee draft work programme for 2010 – 2011 and the Executive Forward Plan for the period 1 November 2010 – 31 October 2011.

Members considered the Committee’s work programme and noted that the following items would be added to the programme:-

1)           Central Bedfordshire Council Adult Social Care: Customer Feedback – The Committee to receive a six monthly update on Complaints, Compliments for 2010/11 to be scheduled for June 2011

2)           Web Strategy - The Committee to receive an item on the Council’s Web Strategy in relation to customers accessing Adult Social Care Services via the Council’s Website.  To be scheduled for March 2011, the Committee might consider and discuss what the Directorate can do ensure customers are aware of and use the web to contact the Directorate.

RESOLVED

that the work programme be noted.

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on 24 January 2011 in Room 15 at Priory House starting at 10.00am.

The next meeting of the Social Care, Health & Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be held on Monday 24 January 2011 in Room 15 at Priory House, Shefford starting at 10.00am.