Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Communities, the purpose of which was to provide an update on the provision and procurement of commissioned Community Life Choices (CLC) services and the progress in supporting existing service users to transfer from in-house CLC services to appropriate alternative services. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion the following points were raised:

(i)    It was asked if the one example of the successful transition of service included in the report was the norm from the 93 people that had been transitioned to alternative provision. In response, the Committee was advised that, whilst data regarding satisfaction was not collected, regular reviews were undertaken and there was evidence that people were attending the alternative provision.

(ii)   A Member requested an update outside of the meeting on the position of Roman Way to share with Members in his division.

(iii) It was reported there had been 13 redundancies from the 43 members of staff as part of the action plans. Staff impacted by the closures have been notified of ongoing opportunities within A&C. It was noted that the 13 redundancies were people who had either taken early retirement of had moved to other employment. There were plenty of redeployment opportunities or training provision for those who wanted to remain.

(iv) Procurement of the new CLC framework had resulted in 27 extra providers, including those delivering services for people with profound and multiple disabilities. It was noted that in the Market Harborough area where difficulties had been expected in transferring some people, particularly those with profound and multiple disabilities, all affected service users had successfully transferred to new providers. The total number of CLC providers would be provided to Members outside of the meeting.

(v)  It was noted that the County Council had concentrated on finding long term providers as this met the needs of the affected 112 service users.  The County Council’s in-house expertise was being used to provide respite and crisis care through the Short Breaks service which already operated 24 hours a day. There were usually three or four cases a month that required crisis or short-term provision.

(vi) The procurement framework had focused on matching people with provision in their local area.  Some people had chosen not to go to a traditional day service but had chosen to have a direct payment and purchase different activities. Each service user had been reviewed individually to identify which provider or providers would best meet their needs.  The remaining 19 service users were subject to the same process and most had a transition plan in place. Any service user who was unable to transition to an alternative provider would be transferred to the in-house short breaks service.

(vii)         Members requested detail on usage of the short term and crisis CLC service for the last six months and projected figures for the next six months. It was queried whether it was economic to provide the service for a small number of service users.  However, the Committee was advised that the short term and crisis CLC service was provided from the existing short breaks service and was not an additional provision. A report would be brought to the Committee at a future meeting.

(viii)       A Member asked if there was an independent provider that provided crisis care, and what services for people with learning disabilities continued to be provided by the County Council. The Chairman suggested that the two points raised be discussed as future agenda items for the Committee.

The Chair suggested that points raised by Members and information on transition timelines be brought together in a report to be provided at a future meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report on progress delivering the social care reform programme be noted.

(b)  That the Chairman and Spokespeople of the Committee be asked to consider the content of a further report on Community Life Choices, including the closure of the in-house service, provision of short term and crisis care and services provided for people with learning disabilities, to be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.