Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at http://council.webcast.vualto.com/leicestershire-county-council/home?EventId=15837.

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

Mr. Dave Houseman CC, Lead Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care (Minutes 11 and 12 refer).

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 18 May 2016.

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 2017.

(Mrs. R. Camamile 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 2017.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 April 2016 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

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

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been 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.

No declarations were made.

There were no declarations of the party whip.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities which sought its views on the outcome of the public and stakeholder consultation on the draft Communities and Wellbeing Strategy for 2016-2020, which took place between 8 February and 2 May 2016. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 10” is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Mr. R. Blunt CC, Cabinet Lead Member for Heritage, Leisure and Arts to the meeting for this item.

In his opening remarks the Cabinet Lead Member commended officers for their work on the draft strategy which aimed to enable the best use of resources within the most challenging budget the Council had faced thus far.

The Director brought to the Committee’s attention some minor errors in the percentages outlined in paragraph 1 on page 63, Appendix E of the report pack, which should read as follows:-

·           Reducing the number of County Council funded museums and heritage venues (66.4% disagreed);

·           Reducing opening hours across Communities and Wellbeing venues (65.5% disagreed);

·           Reducing the number of libraries that are fully funded by the Council (78.3% disagreed).

In addition, members noted that the level of savings required by 2018 should read £1.8 million rather than £1.9 million (Appendix A, page 22). The Committee was assured that the Strategy would be amended with the correct figures following the meeting.

The Director advised that the consultation responses had shown that Community and Wellbeing Services were highly valued by residents.  The feedback displayed an understanding that the services provided by the Council needed to be reconsidered and majority of responses agreed with the new approach outlined in the draft Strategy which recognised that different communities needed different levels of support.

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

(i).       Concerns regarding community capacity were raised within the consultation process. Members were assured that the Department had extensive experience in supporting communities and volunteers, including its work with museums and libraries. Officers would continue to make attempts to harness the right skills within localities and provide sufficient support and guidance to enhance community cohesion. This work included supporting communities in developing links with other agencies, such as Voluntary Action Leicestershire;

(ii).      The Strategy aimed to enable resilient communities and reduce dependency on Council services.  The Service would be based on the combination of leading on the provision of a range of services and providing support to local communities to enable them to help themselves.Time-limited targeted services would also be in place to ensure the most vulnerable groups and individuals received the correct level of support at the right time;

(iii).    In response to a point raised about ensuring a fair spread of service resource across the whole County, the Lead Member assured members that a review of all existing venues and operations was underway to ensure that this issue was given due regard.

It was reported that two Committee members had recently visited Peterborough Library “Open+” where a trial was being conducted which meant the Library operated without staff, with books being loaned via an automated system. The feedback from the visit was positive and it was noted that incidents of anti-social behaviour had been significantly below that which had been expected.

A view was expressed that this approach could be considered as a means of mitigating volunteer capacity issues and avoiding library closures, or even as an alternative to community management. In response, members were advised that volunteer-run libraries enabled a range of services to be provided from venues and that it therefore remained the most desirable option. The Committee noted that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Committee considered the joint report of the Chief Executive and the Director of Adults and Communities, which provided the year-end update on the departmental performance for 2015-16.  A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 11” is filed with these minutes. 

The Committee welcomed Mr. Dave Houseman MBE CC, Cabinet Lead Member for Adult Social Care to the meeting for this item. In introducing the report, the Cabinet Lead Member highlighted the Department’s good work which had resulted in it exceeding its target for getting those with learning disabilities into employment, as referenced in paragraph 16 of the report. This achievement was consistent with a forthcoming White Paper aimed at supporting disabled people to get and remain in work. Members’ attention was drawn to an error on page 135 of the report pack (Appendix 2) which should show the figures for “IT available hours” as 774,815 for 2014-15 and 716,775 for 2015-16

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

(i).       It was felt that the target of 100% for carers receiving direct payments was set too high. The Department had reduced the target to 98% for the coming year;

(ii).      The decrease in book loans at libraries was a national trend. Library visits had not declined at the same rate as the issues. This was likely to be as a result of the diverse array of services now being accessed by customers at libraries, including attending group activities and e-loans. A task group would be looking at issues and  usage in more detail to enable further consideration to be given to future targets in this area;

(iii).    The loan figures for libraries (Appendix 2, page 135) related to all 36 County libraries.  It was suggested that future updates on library performance should show comparative figures for those libraries that were managed by communities and those that were not. Further data, including visits and complaints would be drawn from the information collected from community libraries, which was a requirement as part of the transfer agreement with the Council.

RESOLVED:

That the update on departmental year-end performance for 2015-16 be noted.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Adults and Communities and Director of Health and Social Care Integration which provided members with an update on the Better Care Fund (BCF) Plan submitted to NHS England, and an overview of the spending plan and outcome metrics for 2016-17.  A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 12” is filed with these minutes.

In introducing the report the Director of Health and Care Integration outlined the progress made in respect of the national timetable for the BCF. In addition, the Cabinet Lead Member for Adult Social Care commended both the officers and NHS colleagues as the National Audit Office had recently found Leicestershire to be the fourth highest performing authority out of 22 in Delayed Transfers of Care.

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

(i).       The national metric for the proportion of older people (65 and over) who were still at home 91 days after discharge from hospital into reablement/ rehabilitation services was a measure of the effectiveness of reablement services. Hospital discharge/readmission rates were not part of this report though this was a consideration in looking at the effectiveness of reablement services;

(ii).      The Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) was administered by the District and Borough Councils with the aim of ensuring adaptations could be made to disabled people’s homes thus avoiding the need to seek alternative accommodation. The “Lightbulb Project” similarly offered housing support for vulnerable people. Opportunities to make this project more effective were being investigated;

(iii).    In response to questions around the performance of the BCF, it was noted that the Integration Executive monitored performance on a monthly basis, with quarterly monitoring done by the Health and Wellbeing Board. National benchmarking arrangements by NHS England were also in place. The matrix for monitoring performance of the BCF on a local level was complex, given projects were carried out by a variety of partners. Members were however assured that Overview and Scrutiny was part of this process and that was why the report had been presented to the Committee. Members were advised that a copy of Integration Executive performance report would be provided for their information following the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the update on Better Care Fund Plan submitted to NHS England, including an overview of spending and outcome metrics for 2016-17, be noted.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on 6 September 2016.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 6 September 2016 at 2.00pm.