Agenda and minutes

Mr. R. Blunt CC, Lead Member Heritage, Leisure and Arts (Minute 10 refers).

Mr. D. Houseman CC, Lead Member for Adult Social Care (Minute 11 and 12 refers).

Paul Burnett, Independent Chairman of the Safeguarding Boards (Minute 11 refers).

Mr. J. Kaufman CC, Chairman of the Scrutiny Review Panel (Minute 12 refers).

To note that Mrs R. Camamile CC was nominated Chairman elect to the Adults and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the County Council meeting held on 20 May 2015.

That Mrs. R. Camamile CC be appointed Chairman of the Adults and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the period ending with the date of the Annual Meeting of the County Council in 2016.

(Mrs. R. Camamile CC in the Chair)

That Mr. S. D. Sheahan CC be elected Deputy Chairman of the Adults and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the period ending with the date of the Annual Meeting of the County Council in 2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 March 2015 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions received under Standing Order 35.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).

There were no urgent items for consideration.

The Chairman invited members who wished to do so to declare any interest in respect of items on the agenda for the meeting.

Mr S.D. Sheahan CC declared a personal interest that could lead to bias with relation to the report from Scrutiny Review Panel on Help to Live at Home (item 12 refers) and undertook to leave the room during discussion of this item.

There were no other declarations.

There were no declarations of the party whip.

A copy of the report to be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 16 June is attached for the Committee’s consideration. Any comments made on the report will be reported at that meeting.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities, the purpose of which was to provide an update on the progress made with communities who have been assessed as meeting the County Council’s conditions to enable them to manage their community library, and those where no Registration of Interest (ROI) has been received, or a registration of interest or outline business plan had been submitted and subsequently withdrawn. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Mr Blunt, Lead Member for Heritage, Leisure and Arts, Mr Jon Wilson, the Director of Adults and Communities and Mr Nigel Thomas the Head of Service, Communities and Wellbeing to introduce the report and answer questions.

In response to questions members were advised as follows:-

(i)            There was some slippage on the required MTFS savings as a result of the process of transferring libraries taking longer than had been anticipated. A non-recurring contingency of £330,000 had been set aside to accommodate this slippage. The Cabinet Lead Member stated that he had advised the Leader and the Cabinet colleagues of the slippage. He added that the fact that the Cabinet had noted and accepted the delay in the savings requirement showed the commitment of the Administration to ensure, as far as possible, that all communities were able to work with the Council and take over the management of the local libraries.

(ii)          The issue of developer contributions (Section 106 monies) was the subject of a briefing note to local communities. The County Council’s request for developer contribution would be based on the new service delivery model and any funds received would need to be used for the library affected by the development. To that end the Locality Support Officer would work with the library concerned to discuss the impact of the development and how this could best be addressed. Part of this discussion could include the addition of stock or funding for other plans that would meet the needs of the community using the library.

(iii)         The County Council was proposing a further round of engagement with those communities that had not put forward a bid or had put forward a bid which was deemed unacceptable or had been withdrawn. It was hoped that the work currently being undertaken by Voluntary Action Leicester in building community capacity plus the experience of groups in other localities who had put forward successful bids would serve to encourage people/groups to come forward. Regarding the issue of deprivation as a factor preventing people coming forward the experience across the County and elsewhere would suggest this was not necessarily the case.

(iv)         It was difficult to predict and generalise about the long term sustainability of communities operating library services. An analysis of the bids submitted to operate libraries had shown that communities were aware of the challenges ahead and their business plans were robust. The Cabinet Lead Member indicated that he was confident that the majority of the libraries would be sustainable in the long term but that it was likely their role would change over time and they became more of a community resource with a range of activities taking place in the library buildings.

(v)          Alternative services for areas where an acceptable outline business plan had not been submitted had yet to be explored. Amongst the options under consideration would be closure with replacement by a mobile service, a smaller more targeted service etc. it was hoped as a result of the next round of engagement this would not be the case. At  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Committee considered a report of the Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Boards, the purpose of which was to bring to the Committee’s attention the Business Plans 2015-16 for Leicestershire and Rutland Safeguarding Children Board (LRLSCB) and Safeguarding Adults Board (LRSAB) for consultation and consideration.  Due to the nature of the Committee’s work and function only Business Plan for Safeguarding Adults Board was discussed. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 11’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Paul Burnett, Independent Chair of the Safeguarding Boards to introduce the report and answer questions and Mr. D. Houseman, Cabinet Lead Member for Adults Social Care to comment on the report.

The Independent Chair explained this year there was a need to disaggregate plans for LRLSCB and LRSAB to reflect the changes in the policy brought about by Care Act 2014. Although the priorities for delivery of the plans remained the same as the previous year, the actions underpinning the delivery of the priorities had changed.

The Director for Adults and Communities reiterated that significant progress had been made in adult safeguarding prior to the Care Act, which had now introduced statutory obligations for local authorities including the statutory duty to respond. Over the next 12 months, the intention was to achieve a personalised approach to safeguarding adults in order to ensure it was not perceived as bureaucratic.

Mr Houseman, the Cabinet Lead Member stated that paragraph 1.2, page 45 of the report did not include information or specific training for elected members on making safeguarding referrals. He further advised that paragraph 2b.3, page 47 should include “domiciliary care” with regards to priorities set out to ensure that adults are receiving safe care in their own homes as well as in the residential establishments and that ongoing work was underway to make guidance clear.

Members welcomed Mr Houseman’s comment particularly in relation to member training and support on what constituted a safeguarding issue and the process to be followed.

The following points were raised with regards to the report:-

(i)            The Ann Craft Trust had produced a report on the reasons for increases in the number of adult safeguarding alerts in 2013/14 that included a range of recommendations for the future recording and monitoring of safeguarding alerts, contacts and referrals.  These recommendations would be considered by the Safeguarding Adults Board at its meeting in July 2015.

(ii)          Work was under way on how the process of making safeguarding referrals could be focused and directed at the right audiences. In this regard the Committee was advised of the importance of the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hubs (MASH) as single point of contact to enable a more effective response and to develop a threshold on when it would be appropriate to make a referral.

(iii)         That members of public were provided with a range of means to report safeguarding issues including the internet, telephone number and pocket-sized information cards were regularly distributed.  

(iv)         Concerns that transition from children to adult services might result in some service users falling through the gaps of the system, was recognised and to that end bespoke complex training was being provided to staff to tackle this issue.

(v)          The concerns of Healthwatch Leicestershire regarding the importance of better communication and joint working between organisations involved in safeguarding was recognised and was an area under constant monitoring and review.

(vi)         That a role of the Adults Care Manager would have an audit function to provide a professional and practical leadership on the Help to Live at Home (HTLAH) project, so that common standards were applied to all care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

A copy of the Review Panel’s Final Report is attached for the Committee’s consideration. Subject to approval, the Final Report will be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 16 June.

The Committee considered the Final Report of the Scrutiny Review Panel on Help to Live at Home which set out conclusions and recommendations arising from the Scrutiny Review Panel investigating into Help to Live at Home project to develop, re-commission and implement a model of care to support people better to live independently and provide an improved care experience, better care outcomes and more cost effective service delivery. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 11’ is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed the Chairman of the Scrutiny Review Panel on Help to Live at Home, Mr. J. Kaufman CC to the meeting to introduce the report and answer questions.

Mr Kaufman began by thanking all members who had served on the Panel, and the officers who had supported the Panel. He hoped that the report would be a useful first step in bringing together health and social care bodies to focus on the homecare market, an area which needed investment and development, given the increasing number of people now living in their own homes.

The Director and Cabinet Lead Member welcomed the findings of the Panel and concurred with the recommendations and direction of travel.

In response to questions, members were advised as follows:-

(i)    The reasons for limiting the number of providers in each area was to ensure that more time was spent on developing a strategic relationship with a smaller number of providers aimed at improving quality rather than spending office time on monitoring a large number of small contracts.

(ii)  Developing a stronger relationship with a few key providers would enable these providers to obtain a degree of certainty about the level of business, thereby enabling them to invest in staff, both in terms of training and improved terms and conditions of work. The County Council in its commissioning arrangements would be seeking assurances in this regards.

(iii) There was little by way of subcontracting in the homecare market.

(iv) Locality commissioning would be based on the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust Community Health Teams, as this would provide an opportunity for closer working between homecare providers, locality health and social care teams as well as GP surgeries. Such an approach would mean a more coordinated and person cantered approach but would also take into account the needs of the locality and communities served.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report of the Scrutiny Review Panel on Help to Live at Home be supported and that the recommendations therein be referred to the Cabinet for consideration;

(b)  That the Adults and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive further updates on the Help to Live at Programme at key milestones during the project.

The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled to take place on 1 September 2015 at 2:00pm.

RESOLVED:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Commission would be held on 1 September 2015 at 2:00 pm.