Agenda and minutes
PDF 61 KBVenue: Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2DN
Contact: Ross Pike or Andrew Baird
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies were received from Graham Ellwood. Richard Wilson acted as a substitute for the vacant position on the Committee.
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MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 23 OCTOBER 2014
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Minutes: These were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.
Notes: · In line with the Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012, declarations may relate to the interest of the member, or the member’s spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom the member is living as husband or wife, or a person with whom the member is living as if they were civil partners and the member is aware they have the interest. · Members need only disclose interests not currently listed on the Register of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests. · Members must notify the Monitoring Officer of any interests disclosed at the meeting so they may be added to the Register. · Members are reminded that they must not participate in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary interest. Minutes: None |
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QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes: 1. The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm four working days before the meeting (Monday 15 December 2015). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (Friday 12 December 2014). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Minutes: None |
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RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SELECT COMMITTEE
The recommendations made at the last meeting will be made to Cabinet on 16 December 2014. A response will be included in the next Committee meeting papers.
Minutes: None |
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DIRECTOR'S UPDATE
The Strategic Director for Adult Social Care will update the Committee on important news and announcements. Minutes: Witnesses: Dave Sargeant, Strategic Director for Adult Social Care
Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care Steve Cosser, Cabinet Associate for Adult Social Care
Declarations of interest: None
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Strategic Director wished to discuss four items in his update. Firstly, Surrey’s Better Care Fund (BCF) plan has been completed and is ready for submission to the Department of Health. The Governance of the Fund has also been signed off and the Director noted that the relationships between the Council and the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are much stronger now especially in the west where an information sharing pilot has been launched. However, the Director cautioned that risks remain around the management of the £25m fund for the protection of social care.
2. Regarding the Care Act, the Director advised that the government guidance has been reassuring but that there is a lot of detail to work through especially around fees and charging. The Directorate’s fees and charging policy proposal has been approved by the Cabinet and is now out for consultation. Training events for frontline staff on the duties of the Care Act are being finalised. More work is being undertaken on the new social care duties for prisoners; extra capacity has been facilitated by Care Act funding included in the BCF. The Director wants to involve other agencies in this work and not simply add more work to frontline social care staff.
3. The consultation on the future of the six older people’s care homes has been extended until January 31 to allow for more conversations with individual families and members of staff. As a result the Cabinet paper will now be considered in March 2015. Members asked whether the Directorate is working closely with carers and other stakeholders. The Director reassured the Committee that he regularly meets both formally and informally with stakeholders and that the feedback on the service is good but that the consultation is about the environment for care and staffing which are not sustainable. Ultimately, the profile of service users has changed but the buildings’ capabilities have not which risks future non-compliance with the CQC’s inspection framework.
4. Members queried if there was capacity to accommodate current residents of these homes if they need to be moved. The Director advised that there is no deficit in capacity in Surrey and that a local solution would be followed meaning that service users would, hopefully, be placed within five miles of their current residence.
5. The Director then discussed the realignment of senior staff advising that it is now 90% complete. The final phase is to recruit into the newly created posts. Members queried the levels of vacancies in the Directorate more widely, the Director stated that he was not complacent and that there are hotspots in the county, for example in Surrey Heath due to maternity leave and Mole Valley, an area that has historically faced recruitment problems, but overall the situation has improved. ... view the full minutes text for item 6/13 |
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INTERAGENCY YOUNG CARERS STRATEGY FOR SURREY
Surrey’s Young Carers Strategy “Making It Real for Young Carers” is a three year plan. It sets out how the Council, NHS and other partners will work together to improve support for young carers. The process is coordinated by Adult Social Care but young carers have been central to the development of the strategy. This report summarises the key issues for Adult Social Care and describes how plans involving young carers will drive implementation, including new young carers assessment tools. Additional documents: Minutes: Witnesses: John Bangs, Commissioning Manager (Carers), Adult Social Care Geoff Parks, Deputy Manager, Surrey Young Carers
Steve Cosser, Cabinet Associate for Adult Social Care
Declarations of Interest: None
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Commissioning Manager (CM) provided the Committee with a brief introduction to the report highlighting the new Care Act duty where the Council has to identify and support young carers. Members were advised that estimates suggested there could be in excess of 14,000 young carers living in Surrey and that a comprehensive, interagency strategy was required in order to identify and then support this cohort. The Cabinet Associate for Adult Social Care highlighted that the Cabinet were acutely aware of the challenges faced by young carers, that his priority was to raise the profile of young carers and that action had been taken by the Cabinet to support the strategy including setting up an event to celebrate young carers and spread the word to other agencies.
2. The Deputy Manager of Surrey Young Carers (DMSYC) provided the Committee with an insight into the challenges that young carers face including a case study as well as a video which contextualised these challenges. It was highlighted that Surrey is ahead of the curve in supporting young carers but that further measures were required to ensure that the needs and concerns of young carers in Surrey are met.
Marisa Heath left the meeting at 11.25 am.
3. Members drew attention to young children (under-14 years old) who are required to act as carers in some capacity and asked whether these young carers and the care they provided should be given more recognition in the report. The DMSYC advised that early identification was helping to increase the number of referrals for very young carers. It was agreed, however, that the identifying young carers earlier normally led to better outcomes.
4. The Committee also asked whether it was possible to ensure that young carers had the same opportunity to attend university or gain further qualifications as other school leavers. The DMSYC highlighted that it was crucial for young carers to feel that the right care package was in place for their dependent to give them the confidence to take the time away from home to pursue further education. Members were advised, however, that the increased support available is allowing increasing numbers of young carers to gain further qualifications and give them the same opportunities as their peers.
5. Members asked whether schools are stepping in to recognise and support young carers. The DMSYC indicated that 25% of schools have proven to be very good at doing this but that more training needs to be provided to make young carers more visible and to ensure that schools throughout Surrey have the facility to identify and support young carers. The role of trust and practical adaptations such as use of mobile phones were also emphasised to give young carers the confidence to talk to teachers, care workers and other staff of ... view the full minutes text for item 7/13 |
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ADULT SOCIAL CARE DIRECTORATE OCTOBER 2014 BUDGET MONITORING REPORT
Minutes: Witnesses:
Dave Sargeant, Strategic Director William House, Finance Manager
Declarations of interest: None
Margaret Hicks left the meeting at 12:17
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. The Finance Manager highlighted that the Directorate had made savings of £40m representing 92% of their original target with the Family, Friends and Community (FFC) Support programme achieving almost £10m of that amount. The reassessments aspect of FFC realised 21% efficiencies which is more than expected. New packages created in October and November are also improving the picture, however, risks and challenges remain. Additional demand has been running at 7.5%, higher than anticipated, creating additional costs.
2. The Directorate will have a £3.4m overspend and there is a £2m shortfall in identified savings. The majority of these risks were covered in the forecast and the Finance Manager does not expect that this will vary greatly.
3. The Finance Manager advised that the under the Care Act the Council has been lobbying for £7.1m in funds to cover its new duties, including social care in prisons, and has achieved £7.2m from central government. Members sought reassurances that this funding was only to be spent within Adult Social Care, the witnesses confirmed that it would be and that CCGs would have a view on it being spent appropriately through the BCF arrangements. It was further highlighted though that the greatest pressure comes in 2016 with the new round of Care Act provisions including the cap on costs. The new consultation round begins in Quarter 1 of 2015.
4. Members stated that the database currently used to support the FFC programme was not sufficient to join up community assets with the friends and family aspect of support. The Strategic Director advised Members that Surrey Information Point is due to be relaunched in February and that a demonstration of capabilities could be arranged.
5. When discussing the strategic shift to community rather than residential services the Committee were advised this refers to new entrants to the social care system not moving current service users from one setting to another. The Finance Manager also clarified the distinction between recurring and non-recurring ‘one-off’ savings.
Recommendations:
· That the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care ensures that funding for the new Care Act duties is allocated to Adult Social Care.
· Local Committee Chairman should identify, if they have not already done so, a Family, Friends and Community Support Member Champion to liaise with Adult Social Care and highlight local opportunities for the programme to develop.
Actions/further information to be provided:
None.
Committee next steps:
None.
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RECOMMENDATION TRACKER AND FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME
The Committee is asked to monitor progress on the implementation of recommendations from previous meetings, and to review its Forward Work Programme. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of interest: None
Witnesses: None
Key points raised during the discussion:
1. It was requested that the Adult Social Care Select Committee consider an item on the responsibility of the Adult Social Care Directorate towards Surrey’s prison population, this has been added to the forward plan to be considered at the committee meeting on 10 March 2015.
2. It was requested that the Adult Social Care Select Committee consider an item on the provision of social care services to socially excluded groups. It was agreed that this item would be added to the Forward Work Programme for the meeting of the Select Committee on 14 May 2015.
Recommendations:
None
Actions/further information to be provided:
None
Committee next steps:
None
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DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00 am on Thursday 15 January 2015. Minutes: The Committee noted its next meeting would be 15 January 2015 at 10 am. |