Agenda and minutes
PDF 215 KBVenue: The Ashcombe, County Hall, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2DN
Contact: Ross Pike or Andy Spragg 020 8541 7369 or 020 8213 2673 Email: ross.pike@surreycc.gov.uk or Email: andrew.spragg@surreycc.gov.uk
| No. | Item |
|---|---|
|
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Minutes: Apologies were received from Pauline Searle, Ramon Gray, Dorothy Ross-Tomlin and Yvonna Lay.
Michael Gosling acted as a substitute.
|
|
|
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING: 14 MAY 2015
To agree the minutes as a true record of the meeting. Minutes: The minutes were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting.
|
|
|
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 received. |
|
|
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 (19 June 2015). 2. The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting (18 June 2015). 3. The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no petitions have been received. Minutes: Several questions were submitted by Family Voice. A response to each of these questions was received from the Deputy Leader of the Council, Peter Martin. The questions and response to each of these are attached as Annex 1 to these minutes.
Key points raised during the discussions:
· Members queried why the responses were not available for the representative for Family Voice to review in advance of the meeting. It was advised that the responses were circulated by officers on the morning of the meeting. Regrettably, Family Voice’s representative was in transit to the meeting when the responses were issued and so was unable to review the responses provided to the ahead of the meeting.
· One Member expressed dissatisfaction with the response to question four which seemed to indicate that money spent on children through the education budget mitigated the imbalance in the amount spent on social care for adults in the county proportionate to that spent on children. The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement drew attention to a number of areas where the education budget supports social care services for children in Surrey such as funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as well as Looked After children. The Deputy Director for Children, Schools and Families (DDCSF) also highlighted that Children’s Services (CS) spends money on support services in a very different way from Adult Social Care (ASC) and that this also needs to be taken into consideration. Andrea Collings from Family Voice stated that it is unfair to connect funding in educating with social care spending as education is a universal right.
|
|
|
RESPONSES FROM THE CABINET TO ISSUES REFERRED BY THE SCRUTINY BOARD
On 10 April 2015 the Adult Social Care Select Committee made a recommendation to the Cabinet suggesting that consideration be given to affordable housing for care staff as key workers in Surrey including the use of land and property owned by Surrey County Council. These recommendations were considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 26 May 2015 and a response from the Leader of the Council was received on 26 May 2015. The response is attached as Annex 1 to the minutes of this meeting.
Minutes: A response was received to an issue referred to the Cabinet by the Adult Social Care Select Committee at its meeting on 10 April 2015. A response was provided by the Leader of the Council and is attached as Annex 2 to these minutes.
Witnesses:
Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence
Declarations of interest:
None
Key points raised during the discussions:
None
|
|
|
CHILDREN'S SERVICES INDUCTION
The Service and Cabinet Member will set out their priorities for 2015/16. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Caroline Budden, Deputy Director, Children, Schools and Families Julie Fisher, Interim Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families Peter Martin, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Lead for Economic Prosperity Linda Kemeny, Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement Sheila Jones, Head of Countywide Services, Children’s Services and Safeguarding.
Key points raised during the discussions:
The presentation that was delivered on this item is submitted as Annex 3 to these minutes.
The Deputy Director of Children, Schools and Families (DDCSF) gave the Board an overview of Children’s Services. The Board was apprised of the number of referrals that the Service assesses. Information was also provided on the number of children who were Looked After in Surrey.
Attention was also drawn to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH). The MASH was being reconfiguration to facilitate closer working with partners across the county. It was suggested that the Board could have an update on this reconfiguration in 6-9 months time once these changes were completed. The Board requested details on how the changes arising from the introduction of the Care Act have impacted on young carers in Surrey. The DDSCF advised that information about how young carers would be affected by Care Act would be circulated to the Board.
The DDSCF was asked to clarify the steps being taken to ensure that children moved into residential care are given placements close to their friends and family. Officers commented that residential placements are always based around the needs of the child and that proximity to family and friends was given careful consideration. The Board was informed that there were a limited number of residential placements available within the county and this meant that it was sometimes necessary to place children out of county. It was highlighted that in such circumstances Children’s Services took steps to ensure that the child maintained appropriate contact with their family.
· The Board queried whether the number of children being placed in foster care in the county is increasing. Officers informed the Board that the number of children in foster care had remained relatively stable over the past few years, although it was highlighted that work was being done to significantly increase the number of foster carers in Surrey.
· It was commented that the information provided to the Board made it challenging for Members to get a comprehensive understanding of key elements of the Service, such as expenditure and volume of cases. Officers highlighted that some of the statistics in relation to caseloads were fluid and changed over time. It was suggested that a breakdown of Children’s Service’s budget was circulated to the Board.
· Clarification was sought on the number of in-county residential placements for children who were Looked After children. The Head of Countywide Services stated that the Council has around 40 residential placements with a further 44 external ones currently. External placements are spot-purchased according to need. Members were informed that there was a team dedicated to ensuring that children were placed ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
|
|
OFSTED BRIEFING AND UPDATE
Purpose of report: Scrutiny of Services To provide the Scrutiny Board with an overview of the findings of the Ofsted report and the timelines for the improvement plans. Minutes: Declarations of interest:
None
Witnesses:
Caroline Budden, Deputy Director for Children, Schools and Families. Julie Fisher, Interim Strategic Director for Children, Schools and Families Peter Martin, Deputy Leader of the Council Linda Kemeny, Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement
Key points raised during the discussions:
The presentation that was delivered on this item is submitted as Annex 4 to these minutes.
The Deputy Director for Children, Schools and Families provided the Board with an introduction to the report, highlighting that the Council had volunteered to take part in a multi-agency inspection being piloted by Ofsted. The Board was advised that in April 2014 Children’s Services had amended its delivery model in relation to Children In Need, in response to consultation with service users and partners. This change had been intended to provide greater support around early help. The Board was informed that when the Ofsted inspection began there remained some discrepancies in the extent to which the new delivery model had been rolled out across Children’s Services. This proved to be significant in the inspectors’ assessment of the service. It was stressed that the service was redesigned in order to improve children’s journeys through Children’s Services in order to provide the best possible protection for children at risk in Surrey.
The Deputy Leader of the Council provided more details on specific concerns detailed in Ofsted’s report. Both the Referral, Assessment and Intervention Service (RAIS) and the stepping down process were criticised, and it was felt they did not provide children with the level of protection and support that Ofsted would expect. Inspectors also felt that the Council and its partners should have a more robust approach to combating Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) although the Deputy Leader highlighted that responding to CSE was a challenge for local authorities across the country. The Deputy Leader informed the Board that he was chairing a cross-party Improvement Board which was responding to issues highlighted in the Ofsted report. The Improvement Board would also closely scrutinise the improvement plan ahead of its submission to the Department for Education (DfE).
The Interim Strategic Director of Children, Schools and Families advised the Board of concerns regarding the inspection process was conducted and informed Members that the Council had made a formal complaint to Ofsted. This complaint was not upheld. The Board was informed that the Surrey Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) also lodged a complaint about the manner in which they were inspected and this had resulted in the Ofsted’s report on SSCB being set aside. Officers highlighted that Children’s Services did recognise that there were key areas where improvements needed to be made and that work had already begun to address the concerns raised in the report.
· Further detail was requested on the time frame for implementing the changes required to improve Children’s Services. Officers indicated that the improvement plan would include a detailed timeline for the steps required to address Ofsted’s findings. In many cases, plans had already ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
|
|
ADULT SOCIAL CARE INDUCTION
The Service and Cabinet Member will set out their priorities for 2015/16. Additional documents: Minutes: Declarations of Interest:
None received.
Witnesses:
Dave Sargeant, Strategic Director, Adult Social Care Mel Few, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence
Key points raised during the discussion:
The presentation that was delivered on this item is submitted as Annex 5 to these minutes.
The Strategic Director gave the Board an overview of the Adult Social Care (ASC) Directorate providing some of the key challenges facing ASC in 2015/16 such as the introduction of the second phase of the Care Act including the cap on care cost alongside the delivery of £37.5 million worth of savings.
Members were provided with information on some of the ways ASC is working to meet the challenges of rising demand as the Directorate is moving from the achievement of savings through managing supply side pressure to dealing with levels of demand. The SD drew attention to work done in conjunction with the Local Government Association (LGA) on data-sharing as part of the Directorate’s continual improvement programme. ASC is also in the process of compiling an Accommodation and Support Strategy which explores how best to meet the requirements of those with social care needs within the existing estate. Specifically, this will consider how ASC’s estate can be flexed to meet the needs of those with social care needs. The strategy will include details of how the six residential care homes which are in the process of being closed can be used to provider support services.
The Board was also given details about the In Touch professional support services which recognises that not everyone needs continual support, instead the In Touch team has been developed to maintain contact with those people who require lower levels of support and to make sure that their needs are being met appropriately. The SD advised that the six outstanding Section 75 agreements, which are a part of the Better Care Fund (BCF) and need to be signed by the council and each of the six Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in Surrey, are currently the undergoing legal review by each organisation.. These are in the final stages of agreement and are expected to be completed soon.
· Further information was requested on the overlap between Adult and Children’s Services which could be used to improve service delivery by both directorates. The SD stressed that there were is a significant overlap highlighting areas such as information governance, safeguarding, complaints handling and customer relations as areas for collaboration to improve service delivery and produce savings. In particular, the Transitions Service - which manages the pathway for people with care needs as they move into adulthood is an area that Adult Social Care encourages the review of packages to make sure service users make use of their assets and receive an appropriate level of support.
· The Board asked the SD which parts of the Directorate would cause him most concern if the Service was subject to a review of its service delivery.. The SD advised that overall he has ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
|
|
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Board will be held at 10.00 am on Thursday 9 July.
Minutes: The Board noted that its next meeting would take place at 10.00 am on 9 July 2015.
|