Agenda and minutes

A webcast of the meeting can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFmlm9pG8hM .

The minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2021 were taken as read, confirmed and signed.

The Chief Executive reported that no questions had been received under Standing Order 34.

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.

Mrs. A. Wright CC declared a Non-Registerable Interest and an Other Registerable Interest in agenda items 8, 9 and 10 (Medium Term Financial Strategy 2022/23-2025/26; Adult Social Care Reform and Charging; and National Performance Benchmarking 2020/21 and Performance Report 2021/22 – Position at November 2021), as she was a health and social care solicitor working for Browne Jacobson in the area and a champion for a local social care organisation. 

There were no declarations of the party whip.

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

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Adults and Communities and the Director of Corporate Resources which provided information on the proposed 2022/23-2025/26 Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as it related to the Adults and Communities Department.  A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’, is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman welcomed Mrs. C. M. Radford CC, Cabinet Lead Member for Adults and Communities and Mr. T. Parton CC, Cabinet Support Member, to the meeting for this item.

In introducing the report, the Director advised members that the MTFS had been prepared with the plethora of adult social care reform papers, recently published by the National Government, in mind.  This included the Health and Care Bill 2021 which was expected to be enacted before the summer recess.

Arising from the comments and questions raised, the Committee was advised as follows:

Service Transformation

(i)         Improving customer experience and satisfaction was a fundamental ambition of the Department’s Strategy. The other ambitions such as building a flexible, talented, motivated workforce and investing in social care accommodation were key to achieving this ambition.

(ii)        Members were assured that the improvements the Department intended to make to its digital offer were not intended to replace existing services, but instead provide alternative ways to connect to services.  It was recognised that the use of digital services may not be suitable for all service users and that an individual approach would need to be taken. However, as the world progressed there was also a need for the Department to keep pace with the advances in digital technology to ensure service users were prepared for future events such as the ‘Digital Switchover’ in 2025.  Members were reminded that the vast majority of people the Department were in contact with were family members of service users and professionals who were more likely to embrace alternative digital solutions.  The Lead Member highlighted that the Covid-19 pandemic had provided many people (including older people) with an opportunity to familiarise themselves with digital communication such as social media.

Proposed Revenue Budget 

(iii)       In response to concerns regarding the risks and challenges to care providers arising from inflation, the Director confirmed that the largest cost to care providers was workforce costs, so the rise to the National Living Wage of 6.6% would be significant to both care providers and the Council.  This along with the other elements of inflation would be something that the Council would need to take a view on at the appropriate time to determine the amounts to apportion to care providers.  Members noted that the Department also worked with the adult social care market to agree the levels set were reasonable.  Members further noted that care providers were regularly in touch with the Department to provide information on a number of areas such as cost, which was helpful when determining the amounts.

(iv)      There were a number of ways that care providers were supported to manage inflation.  For example, there were many government grants that had been made available during 2020/21 that were targeted to support care providers with their costs and some more of this type of grant were expected to be confirmed for the year 2022/23.  Each Council Department was expected to manage the levels of inflation affecting its own services to minimise impact on corporate inflation contingency, so to help with this an annual review on the standardised uplift rate was taken by the Adults and Communities Department in consultation with an independent advisor. If further funds were required from the central contingency fund then the Department’s needs would need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities, the purpose of which was to brief the Committee on the “People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform White Paper” and its impact on social care provision in Leicestershire. The report also outlined proposals on the Adult Social Care Charging Reform. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion and questions, the following points were raised:

(i)         It was not possible to know at the current stage how the funding attached to the proposals would be allocated and what percentage Leicestershire would receive.  However, it was intended that the Committee would receive further reports regarding the Reforms as developments progressed.

(ii)        One of the aims of the Adult Social Care Reform White Paper was to accelerate the adoption of technology to help people live happy, fulfilled lives.  Although in the early stages of development, it was expected that the Department’s work with Hampshire County Council (HCC) to transform the Council’s approach to care technology would be instrumental in supporting this aim.  The Department would be looking to make use of any funding attached to the Government’s proposals to progress its digital strategy.  Members noted that the White Paper acknowledged that digital technology may not be suitable for everyone and referenced that many older people did not engage with this. The Director said that focussing on the outcomes for the individuals would be key and this might include support being provided to family members with the digital options available.

(iii)       There were many opportunities to developing the Council’s approach to care technology.  These ranged from the installation of a Virtual Assistant to enable reminders of certain tasks to be set, with the potential to progress to more advanced digital equipment such as a monitoring and alert device for a person living in their own home with dementia.  In response to a question raised, it was confirmed that one of the reasons for the strategic partnership with HCC was the high level of experience it had gained in developing its own approach.  The Department would draw upon this to establish its own way forward and create a framework suitable for Leicestershire.  As part of this, a robust way of measuring the financial impact would be developed.  This would take into account any savings made through cost avoidance or efficiency savings.  These might be made, for example, by supplying workers with certain devices to support them with completing tasks required by their role or installing certain technologies that may result in a service user requiring less home care visits. 

RESOLVED:

(a)    That the report regarding the National Government’s proposals to reform Adult Social Care and Adult Social Care Charging be noted;

(b)    That further updates be provided to the Committee as developments progressed.

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chief Executive and Director of Adults and Communities which highlighted the Adults and Communities Department’s performance position in 2020/21 through national benchmarking, and which also provided an update on the Department’s performance position as at the end of November 2021. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points arose:

(i)         It was pleasing to note that many of the performance measures during the reporting period had been met and were rated ‘green’ in spite of the difficulties the Department had faced over the last couple of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

(ii)        In response to a question raised regarding the percentage of people with learning disabilities in employment (ASCOF 1E performance measure) it was confirmed that whilst the employment market was currently buoyant this had not always been the case and the performance in this area (currently rated as red), which was still a considerable level above the national average, reflected a year of very difficult circumstances.  For example, a significant number of people usually attending day services had not wanted to participate in their usual activities due to the health risks associated with Covid-19. Members were pleased to note that supporting people with learning disabilities to find employment was an area of focus and something that had been highlighted to providers as part of the procurement for Community Life Choices services with a number of those commissioned confirming they were able to offer specific employment-related support. The Committee requested that a report regarding the support available to people with learning disabilities to find employment be provided for consideration at a future meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)    That the Adults and Communities Department’s performance position in 2020/21, and the update of the Department’s performance as at the end of November 2021 be noted.

(b)    That the Director be requested to present a report to a future meeting of the Committee detailing the support provided to people with learning disabilities to help them find employment.

The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place on 7 March 2022 at 2.00pm.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 7 March 2022 at 2.00pm.