Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2025 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 Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities, which provided an update on the actions taken following the recommendations from the Peer Review on the effectiveness of the current pathway to adulthood, with a focus on the Young Adult Disabilities (YAD) Team within the Adults and Communities Department. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 8’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were made:

1. Following the wider corporate review of Preparing for Adulthood (PFA) services which was due to complete in the Autumn of 2025, a further update report would be provided to the Committee in the Autumn.

2. The YAD Team now had a very strong working relationship with children’s social care service and SEND colleagues, with regular meetings and clear dialogue regarding the young people preparing for adulthood much earlier in the process.

3. Members noted as an area for future development was the pathway for young people who did not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and that the action would be included as part of update reports on the forward plan for future meetings.

4. A representative from Healthwatch suggested any delay in identifying young peoples’ needs had impact on young people, and asked when the piloting of an alternative method for identifying young people who might require adult social care support would be in place. The Director reported that once the already designed business case for change had been agreed with children’s services in terms of identifying people with a particular criterion, it would be piloted for twelve months, fine-tuned, then implemented at speed.

5. A Member questioned how many people were moving through the various pathways to transition through to adulthood, with varying needs and criteria, for example, those with an EHCP and those that did not. Also questioned was the fall-away rate from the strengths-based model “3 Conversations”. The Director explained the current active caseload within the YAD was approximately 350 people. For those people that did not have an EHCP, they would still be offered transitional support, but their primary need tended to be in relation to their mental health and would go through the operational commissioning mental health team for support.

6. Members noted the number of people with an EHCP was rising year upon year,. Part of the work on the corporate PFA review was to ensure that they received the right service when they reached adulthood.

RESOLVED: 

1. That the report on the Peer Review of Pathway for Adulthood and progress on the recommendations from the Peer Review be noted. 

2. That the Director be requested to provide information to Members on the numbers of people presenting to the County Council requiring transitional support. 

3. That the Director be requested to provide an update to the Committee, to be timetabled for the Autumn, on how the points raised in the report were being addressed and for the Chairman and Spokespersons of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee be invited to attend for that discussion. 

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities which, following a request by the Committee for an update report, provided an update on the progress and implementation of the action plan relating to Melton Short Breaks, the Department’s in-house respite provision which was regulated and inspected the Care Quality Commission (CQC). A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were made:

1. Members were reassured that work around the four identified actions to address the issues raised by the previous CQC inspection of Melton Short Breaks was noted as best practice and was being taken across all other short break providers.

2. In response to a Member’s question on whether the operational capacity of the short breaks services was affected by the staffing shortage, it was reported that operational capacity, usage of facilities and work to ensure there was a full complement of staff was being picked up as part of the review of short breaks which was already underway. The Director undertook to provide an update report to a future meeting of the Committee following the review.

3. The Director explained that staffing levels varied across the short breaks service, with Melton in the mid-range at around 50-60%. Part of the review would look at cost differentials between commissioning the service from external markets rather than providing in-house, and would look at opportunities to increase occupancy and income by selling the service to others, for example, having beds available for other authorities.

4. A representative from Healthwatch noted that feedback around the short breaks service was positive which showed that implemented training was having an impact. It was questioned how live feedback from people using the service could be collected on an ongoing basis to address any issues when they arose. Officers confirmed that after every stay there would be conversation with the parent or carer for the person that had accessed the service, but also to provide information on how the short break had gone for the person using the service. It was further noted that Melton had a user group which met periodically to review recent stays, and to discuss compliments and complaints.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report on Leicestershire County Council Adult Social Care Regulated Services be noted.

b)    That the Director be requested to bring a report to a future meeting of the Committee following the review of the short breaks service.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities which provided information on the findings of an Ofsted inspection of Leicestershire’s Adult Learning Services (LALS) conducted from 14 to 17 January 2025. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion the following points were made:

1. A representative from Healthwatch questioned if, with over 7,000 students across the venues, courses were full to capacity. The Director reported that the number of enrolments had increased since the Covid-19 pandemic, and but there were still spaces available on the programme. The programme for 2025/26 was being developed with broadened opportunities where possible, for example, within the adult learning strategy and the departmental strategy and collaboration around apprenticeships to promote working within health and social care.

2. Members commented that there was potential for the service to be an agent of change for the workforce to equip people of all ages to acquire new skills and move back into the workforce, and to enable small to medium sized employers who were unable to provide their own training to recruit to posts.

3. Members congratulated the service on its ‘good’ Ofsted rating which was positive and was seen as a stamp of quality that Leicestershire County Council was providing for learners who were engaged.  The Lead Member for Adults and Communities, Mrs Radford, also passed on her thanks to Adult Learning Services for their work.

RESOLVED:

That the report on the Leicestershire Adult Learning Service Ofsted Inspection Findings and the proposed actions to monitor improvement be noted.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on 2 June  2025, at 2.00pm.