Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at http://council.webcast.vualto.com/leicestershire-county-council/home/?EventId=22388

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2017 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 Chief Executive reported that no petitions had been received under Standing Order 36.

The Chairman sought and obtained the consent of the Committee to vary the order of business from that set out on the agenda.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Adults and Communities and Director of Corporate Resources which provided information on the proposed 2018/19 to 2021/22 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as it related to the Adults and Communities Department. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item ‘9’ is filed with these minutes. 

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

In introducing the report the Director advised members of the financial challenges facing the Council and the significant demand and cost pressures facing the adult social care services in dealing with an ageing population and an increased number of people with complex disabilities.

In response to questions and comments the Committee was advised as follows:-

Service Transformation

i)             The Department had, over the last few years, sought to prevent and delay the need for services by various means aimed at promoting independence. Whilst the Department was spending less directly on primary prevention, the County Council through its early help and prevention scheme, was working closely with local communities to build resilience and provide such support. In addition it should be noted that the Council’s public health services were focussed on prevention.

ii)            There had been good progress made with integration of services with health. Examples of initiatives included the establishment of locality teams, Home First and joint commissioning and funding of some discrete services. Much remained to be done but it should be noted that the intention was not a structural integration with health services.

Proposed Revenue Budget

iii)           The growth projections for 2020/21 and 2021/22 were lower and this was based on the likely level of demand. In forecasting future demand pressures the Department looked closely at population figures and trends in demand. One key area where it was expected demand would be lower was in young people transitioning to adult services as the SEN data showed a lower number projected to come through after 2020.

iv)           A sum of £3.5million had been set aside centrally for price inflation and £1.5million for pay.

v)            The BCF contribution was shown as a negative figure as this was an income stream into the County Council’s budget.

vi)           The budgets for the Care Pathway in the East and West Localities included services which were provided on a countywide basis by each of these teams. With regard to the income stream of £704,598 to the West Locality this related to NHS income which had been allocated for certain posts in that team.

Growth

vii)         The cost pressures on all service providers arose largely from the increase in the minimum wage but there were also cost pressures in terms of increased insurance costs and costs of equipment and supplies. Cost pressures were a national issue which had been identified by the Competition and Markets Authority which had called for an increase in funding. The Government intended to issue a Green Paper on Social Care funding and reform.  If additional resources could not be found, there was a risk of market failure as a number of providers may not be able to continue.

viii)        The growth now identified in G10 was to ensure that the 18 fte review officers who were in fixed term or temporary contracts would be made permanent. These review officer posts were critical to the Department delivering the required savings as the majority of savings were contingent on a review of care packages. The Department had a lean management structure and some 25% of management costs had been saved in the last few years. Management costs were under 1% of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chief Executive and Director of Adults and Communities highlighting the comparative performance position in 2016/17 through national benchmarking and presenting an update of the Adults and Communities Department’s performance at the end of November 2017.  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.  The Committee was also provided with a supplementary paper (a copy of which is filed with these minutes) summarising the County Council’s performance against the measures in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework 2016/17.

Arising from the discussion, the following comments were raised:-

i)             It was generally agreed by the Committee that the local figures did not accurately reflect the good performance by the Department.  In the majority of measures, the County Council was in the top quartile in the country, but the local indicators presented a harsher view of the performance.

ii)            In terms of carers and service users receiving the correct level of information, it was stated that this was an area where, historically, the department performed poorly in responses to carer and service user satisfaction surveys.  Improvements would be made through the new Carer’s Strategy and the Digital Strategy which would aim to make more information available.  Reassurance was sought that the Carer’s Strategy would help to make carers feel more included in discussions.  £0.5m of the Improved Better Care Fund money would be used within the carer support service and the Carer Support Team was being established this year.

iii)           The number of permanent admissions to care was currently higher than hoped for, and it was unlikely that the year end target of 6.1 would be achieved.  However, the figure was better than previous years and the County Council performed above the national average.

iv)           In response to a query around whether the 85% of local providers of contracted services who had been rated as good or outstanding could share good practice with the 1% who had been rated as inadequate, it was stated that the County Council worked closely with the poor performing providers and had a very good record of improving performance. 

v)            There had been an increase in safeguarding enquiries and referrals, and it was felt that this was largely down to an increased awareness of adult safeguarding.  It was also noted that there were improved outcomes due to a greater focus on the needs of the individual. 

vi)           It was hoped that the current level of volunteers could be sustained and that the service could continue to recruit more volunteers.  Key to the success was ensuring that the work was relevant and interesting so that people were willing to get involved.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the comparative performance position in 2016/17 be noted;

b)    That the update of the Adults and Communities Department’s performance at the end of November 2017 be noted.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on 6 March 2018 at 2.00pm.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 6 March 2018 at 2.00pm.