Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J R Marriott, Mrs A Reynolds and Mrs S M Wray.

No declarations of Councillors' interests were received at this stage of the proceedings.

RESOLVED

That the Minutes of the Adults Scrutiny Committee held on 28 October 2015, be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

(To receive a report from Alina Hackney, Senior Strategic Commercial and Procurement Manager, which provides the Committee with an update on the Community Support Procurement programme)

Consideration was given to a joint report from Pete Sidgwick (Chief Commissioning Officer – Frail Elderly and Long Term Conditions) and Alina Hackney (Senior Strategic Commercial and Procurement Manager – People Services, Commercial Team), which provided the Committee with the background to decisions, activities and outcomes resulting from the current year's Community Support Procurement Programme, which included Homecare Services, Community Supported Living Services and Children with Disability Homecare Services.

The Committee received a joint presentation from the Chief Commissioning Officer – Frail Elderly and Long Term Conditions and the Senior Strategic Commercial and Procurement Manager – People Services, Commercial Team which made reference to:-

·         The context for the Procurement exercise;

·         The background behind the services, the need for the Council to meet its statutory needs as determined by the Care Act;

·         The New Homecare Model -  It was highlighted that the new Homecare Model had been designed to address a number of escalating concerns, and to better manage increasing demand in an environment of decreasing budgetary resources;

·         Community Supported Living – The Committee were advised as the Community Supported Living operated in a different way to the Homecare Model, a separate procurement exercise was conducted with the establishment of an 'Open Select List', a flexible framework that would retain existing quality and continuity of care to service users; and it also allowed the Council to make strategic sourcing decisions for the future;

·         Market Rate – It was reported that Homecare had started from a zero base and that an hourly rate had been constructed taking into consideration all component costs associated with delivering services.  Paragraphs 4.1 to 4.5 of the report provided full details of the financial modelling;

·         Communication – The Committee was advised that with the Communications Team support, a number of activities had been planned to support the programme.  Paragraphs 5.1 to 5.4 of the report provided details of the communications planning;

·         Market Engagement – Full details was contained in paragraphs 7.2 to 7.4 of the report presented;

·         Governance and Decision Making – It was noted that there had been robust governance arrangements in place to provide the necessary oversight, and carry out the required decision making in line with the Council's Constitution. The Committee was advised of the key decision dates and the governance gateways.  Appendix A to the report presented provided the Committee with details of the Community Support Procurement – Governance Overview;

·         Tender Process – The Committee was advised that for Homecare there had been a two stage process, Pre-qualification and Invitation to Tender.  These had been split into two parts, one for the provision of Adults Homecare, and one for the provision of Children with Disabilities Homecare.  The Committee was advised further that bidders had been able to bid for one or both.  At the pre-qualification stage 31 bids had been received (26 for adults only, 3 for adults and children and 2 for children's only), with 24 organisations having been approved to proceed to the stage.

At the Invitation to Tender stage 19  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

(To receive a report from David Laws, Adult Care Strategy Financial Advisor, which ask the Scrutiny Committee to consider the outturn projection for 2015/16)

The Committee gave consideration to a report from David Laws, Financial Advisor, Adult Care, which asked the Committee to consider the budget outturn for 2015/16.

In guiding the Committee through the report, particular reference was made to:-

·         It was highlighted that Adult Care was likely to balance its budget of £145.647m net and was expected to end up with an underspend.  The Committee noted that the report presented was the first of two budget monitoring reports that would be presented within the financial year; 

·         That Adult Care was now organised into the four key commissioning strategies, these being: Adult Frailty & Long term Conditions; Specialist Services (Mental Health, Autism and Learning Disability); Safeguarding Adults; and Carers;

·         The role of the Safeguarding Adults Strategy – It was highlighted that the budget was £3.2596m, and it was projected that this would be balanced by the end of the financial year;

·         The role and purpose of the Carers Strategy.  It was highlighted that the current budget was £2.044m and that it was projected that it would be balanced by the end of the financial year;

·         Care Act - It was reported that the Council had received £6.4m additional funding in relation to additional duties and costs due as a direct result of implementing the first phase of the Care Act in 2015/16.  £400k of this was not utilised by Adult Care and was made available to the Council to address overall budgetary pressures.  It was anticipated that the authority would utilise all of this funding in 2015/16;

·         Better Care Fund – The Committee were advised that £20m had been allocated to the Council in 2015/16 predominantly in Adult Care and that this would help fund the costs of the Care Act and protect adult care services; and

·         Adult Care Savings Programme – It was reported that the 2015/16 budget also included a commitment from the service to deliver £3.388m worth of savings during the financial year from a number of initiatives including a Senior Management and Workforce Development review.  It was highlighted that at the end of October 2015, Adult Care had achieved £2.085m in savings, with an expectation that an additional £1.003m will be delivered by the end of the year.

In conclusion, it was reported that this would be the fourth year in succession that Adult Care had achieved an underspend position.

During discussion the Committee made reference to the Agresso IT system, and questions were raised as to when the Agresso was likely to be fully operational.  Officers advised that the situation was improving and that all focus was being made on closing year end accounts.  The Committee were further advised that issues relating to Agresso were currently being monitored by the Value for Money Scrutiny Committee.

Also some reference was made to:-

·         The detail in the report contained on page 35 relating to 'Infrastructure'.  The Committee were advised that there was a recruitment problem in Lincolnshire; the challenge was how to retain staff; and

·         It was noted that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

(To receive a report from Emma Scarth (County Manager for Performance, Quality and Development), which provides the Scrutiny Committee with a summary of the Adult Care performance measures for Quarter 2 of 2015/16 within the four Commissioning Strategies)

Consideration was given to a report from Emma Scarth, County Manager for Performance Quality and Development, which provided the Committee with a summary of the Adult Care performance measures within the four Commissioning Strategies for Quarter 2 of 2015/16.

It was reported that all the measures had been identified as a priority for the authority, and as a result had been included in the Council Business Plan.

Appendix A to the report presented provided the Committee with detailed performance information for 2015/16.

It was reported further that the direct payment measure combined both service user and carer direct payments.  From 2016/17 these two indicators would be measured separately. It was noted that there had been an increase in the number of people accessing direct payments.

At the end of Quarter 2, there were 432 permanent admissions into residential and nursing care for adults over 65 years.  It was noted that the performance had deteriorated compared to the same period in the previous year when there had been 390 admissions.

It was noted that social care had seen pressures in both homecare and reablement capacity over the summer months, which had led to a small increase in Delayed Transfers of Care attributable to adult care.  It was anticipated that the new homecare contracts and reablement contract would deliver increased capacity over the coming months.

The Committee were advised that a number of the indicators within the Adult Specialities Strategy and NHS indicators were still in development.  It was noted that there had been a slight increase since the end of Quarter 1 in the proportion of adults with a learning disability, or autism who lived in their own home or with their family.  The quarter outturn figure reported was 73.1%.

It was reported that the latest Adult Social Care Survey had identified that 74.9% of people reported that they felt safe.  This was an increase of 12.1% compared to the previous year which had placed the Council as a higher ranking authority within its comparator group.

The Committee were advised that performance remained stable at the end of Quarter 2 at 100% for the % of safeguarding cases supported by an advocate.  It was noted that overall contacts to adult safeguarding were continuing to increase, and it was anticipated that there would be a 20% increase by the end of March 2016 for the year.

Members of the Committee were advised that the purpose of the carers strategy was to help carers build resilience in their caring role and to prevent young carers from taking on inappropriate caring roles, and protect them from harm.

It was noted that as a result of the introduction of the Care Act 2014, an assessment tool had been developed and implemented.  The service currently was in a period of transition shifting practice and processes to meet statutory requirements.

The Committee noted that the Carers Service was a preventative service to carers to help sustain the independence of the person they cared for, and reduce their  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(To receive a joint report and presentation from Emma Scarth, (County Manager for Performance, Quality and Development) and Samantha Francis, (Quality and Development Manager, Business Improvement Team), which invites the Scrutiny Committee to comment on the draft Adult Care Local Account 2014/15)

The Committee gave consideration to a report from Emma Scarth, County Manager for Performance, Quality and Development, which invited comments on the draft Adult Care Local Account 2014/15, a copy of which was detailed at Appendix A to the report presented.

It was reported that the Local Account was introduced by the Government to inform local residents of the successes, challenges and priorities within their local Adult Care Service.  The Local Account was an important part of the Council's commitment to being transparent with the people of Lincolnshire. 

Attached at Appendix A to the report was a draft copy of Lincolnshire County Councils Adult Care Local Account 2014/15, which provided information on how Adult Care had performed over the last 12 months, and how the Council's services were meeting the needs of the customers.  It was noted that the document had been compiled by obtaining relevant information to help inform the people of the Councils achievements during 2014/15.

In conclusion, the Committee were advised that the Adult Care Account was a key document in which the Council could report its performance and achievements to the people of Lincolnshire.

During discussion, one member advised that it was very difficult to read text where the boxes were coloured, and a further one advised that the document needed to be checked to see if it was compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) requirements.

It was also highlighted that the information contained within page 115 with regard to Direct Payment was confusing, and needed further explanation.  It was also felt that reference to the four Commissioning Strategies needed to be included within the text.

Reference was also mentioned for the need for a shorter version of the document to be made available to the public. A suggestion was also made for an electronic version to be made available on the website; and also the potential for a leaflet to be created for use in GP surgeries.  Officers agreed to look into a shorter version of the document.

RESOLVED

1.    That the draft Adult Care Local Account 2014/15 be noted, subject to the inclusion of the comments detailed above.

2.    That agreement be given to the production of copies of the Adult Care Local Account 2014/15 for distribution to key stakeholders.

3.    That the Local Account 2014/15 be used to inform the content of the Committee's work programme in 2016/17.

(To receive the minutes of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Board Scrutiny Sub - Group for its meeting held on 7 October 2015)

Consideration was given to a report from Richard Wills, Executive Director with responsibility for Democratic Services, which provided the Committee with an overview of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group, in particular the Sub-Group's consideration of adult safeguarding matters.  A copy of the draft minutes of the last Scrutiny Sub-Group meeting held on 7 October 2015, were attached at Appendix A to the report presented.

RESOLVED

That the draft minutes of the meeting of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub-Group, held on 7 October 2015 be noted.

(To receive a report by Simon Evans (Scrutiny Officer), which invites the Committee to consider its work programme for the coming months)

Consideration was given to a report from Richard Wills, Executive Director with responsibility for Democratic Services, which asked the Adults Scrutiny Committee to consider its work programme for its forthcoming meetings.  A copy of the work programme was attached at Appendix A to the report presented.

Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer, introduced the report and associated Appendix for consideration by the Committee.

The following items were put forward by the Committee for inclusion on the work programme going forward.

·         Learning Disability Commissioning Strategy;

·         Mental Health Strategy;

·         Update on Mosaic;

·         Sensory Impairment Contracts; and

·         Developing the Adult Care Workforce.

RESOLVED

That the work programme as set out in Appendix A to the report presented be noted subject to the inclusion of the items listed above.