Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Rachel Wilson  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

19.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Councillors

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillor Mrs C J Lawton and Councillor C E H Marfleet.

 

Councillor Mrs E J Sneath (Vice – Chairman) in the Chair.

20.

Declarations of Councillors Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

21.

Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2019 pdf icon PDF 213 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2019 be signed by the Vice-Chairman as a correct record

22.

Announcements by the Executive Councillor and Lead Officers

Minutes:

There were no announcements.

23.

Wellbeing Service - First Year Update pdf icon PDF 177 KB

(To receive a report by Rachel West, Senior Contract Officer, and David Clark Programme Manager, which provides the Committee with an update on the performance of the first year of the Wellbeing Service which went live on 1 April 2018)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which set out the performance for the first year of the new delivery model for the Wellbeing Service.  It was reported that the Wellbeing Service was re-commissioned by Lincolnshire County Council and successfully went live on 1 April 2018.  The service was delivered by Wellbeing Lincs, a consortium of all seven district councils as described in the previous report to this Committee on 28 November 2018.  East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) was the contracted lead provider.

 

The service was available to individuals aged 18 years and over who were resident within Lincolnshire and met the eligibility criteria.  The Wellbeing Service was designed to promote confidence and resilience to support individuals to live independently for longer.  Following assessment, the range of services offered included individualised generic support, simple aids to daily living, minor adaptations, 24-hour responder provision and signposting.

 

Members were advised that the contract started in April 2018 and would end in March 2023 with the opportunity to extend for a further five years pending review.

 

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was noted that the Committee had been informed of a lot of aspects which were going well with the Service, such as the performance, but it was queried if there was anything that was not working quite as well.  It was commented that this was the first year of transition and when moving from three providers to one there would always be challenges, for example getting the staff to work in a consistent way across the service.

·         A pressure on the service had been demand, as the referral rate had been far in excess of what was expected.  It was acknowledged that this had been a challenge and managers had to continually adjust procedures in order to manage this.

·         It was queried whether there had been any liaison with medical crisis teams, acute hospitals, the Peter Hodgkinson Centre and other mental health units.  Members were advised that there were not individuals specifically working on these wards but if it was identified that there was a need for support with mental health concerns then the Service would act as the enabler in getting the necessary services involved.

·         Work was being done to ensure that the right referral pathways were in place and there were positive relationships with other services.

·         It was queried whether there was any working with voluntary organisations.  It was reported that when ELDC led the initial bid, they put together a team to develop networks and referral pathways.  It was ensured that there was a seamless transition to services that could support that person.

·         It was noted that in terms of the key referral pathways, they were not 'one way traffic'.  For example, when Fire and Rescue Advocates went to visit people for a fire check, if they had a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

24.

Housing Related Support Service pdf icon PDF 276 KB

(To receive a report by Carl Miller, Commercial and Procurement Manager – People Services, which invites the Committee to consider the commissioning and procurement of housing related support services which is due to be considered by the Executive on 1 October 2019)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report which invited members to consider a report on the commissioning and procurement of housing related support services which was due to be considered by the Executive on 1 October 2019.

 

It was reported that the Council commissioned a number of contracts to deliver housing related support services to adults.  These contracts comprised of:

·         Emergency accommodation based support – this offered intensive support for up to three months in designated accommodation;

·         Non-emergency accommodation based support – this offered support for up to six months in designated accommodation;

·         Floating support – this offered support for up to six months (not linked to designated accommodation); and

·         Rough sleeper street outreach – which offered assertive outreach and targeted support for up to a maximum of 18 months.

 

Members were advised that the services worked together to form a structured model of support for people who were currently homeless or at risk of losing their home.  The support helped people with their immediate housing need and to regain or sustain their independence.

 

The Council also commissioned the following services, linked to housing, which were packaged together with housing related support services when they were last commissioned in 2015:

·         Two domestic abuse refuges – offering a place of safety and support for up to six months for victims of domestic abuse; and

·         Mental health crisis houses – offering a step down from hospital admission or a preventative stay for up to 10 days.

 

With the exception of the floating support and rough sleeper street outreach elements, which concluded on 31 March 2021, the contracts were all due to end on 30 June 2020, and as a consequence decisions needed to be made about the future commissioning of the services.  The report presented the case for re-commissioning a reconfigured housing related support service for adults in Lincolnshire (Re-commissioning of Children's Services housing related support was the subject of a separate report to the Executive).

 

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained in the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was noted that this was tied into the Wellbeing Service and it was about support and prevention.

·         Since the model was last commissioned in 2015, legislation had changed and there was a new duty to refer on all public authorities.  The role of district councils had also changed and there was now an overlap with some of the County Council's services.

·         The existing service had several components and a number of providers.  The aim was to reduce the number of providers.

·         Members were advised that one element which would not be changing was the domestic abuse refuges, which were working well and were a relatively small part of the budget but were fundamental to the service.

·         The time that district councils had to work with people who were at risk of becoming homeless had been extended.

·         City of Lincoln, East Lindsey and Boston Borough  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

25.

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Performance Report - Quarter 1 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 41 KB

(To receive a report by Katy Thomas, County Manager – Performance and Intelligence, Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which presents performance against Council Business Plan Targets for the Directorate as at the end of Quarter 1 2019/20)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which presented performance against Council Business Plan targets for the Directorate, as at the end of Quarter 1 2019/20.  A summary of performance against target for the year had been included in Appendix A of the report, and a full analysis over the year was included at Appendix B to the report.

 

Members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         It was commented that Lincolnshire did well when compared to other authorities, and it was queried how it was decided which counties Lincolnshire was compared with.  Members were advised that this was set by CIPFA.  The authority was in a group with other counties which were similar to Lincolnshire, so that like was compared with like as it was very different providing services in Lincolnshire than in Nottingham or Derby.

·         Lincolnshire was the second lowest funded shire county in the country for social care.

·         It was noted that targets in relation to smoking and alcohol were dealing with individuals making choices, and the target was ambitious.  It was queried how Lincolnshire compared with the rest of the country.  Members were advised that targets for reducing smoking were based on a national model, which could be improved, but Lincolnshire was still doing well compared to other authorities. 

·         It was queried how the measures reported to the Committee were chosen.  Members were advised that measures were reported by exception.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the performance of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing for Quarter 1 be noted.

26.

Adult Care Activity Data for 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 114 KB

(To receive a report by Glen Garrod, Executive Director Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which provides a detailed understanding of the full year activity in Adult Care 2019)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which provided a detailed understanding of the full year activity in Adult Care for 2018/19 via a spreadsheet attached at Appendix D to the report.  Members were advised that this form of presentation had been used for four years and allowed senior officers within the Directorate to understand the 'flow' of people through adult care and the interplay between various activities; for example the impact prevention services had on longer term care activity.

 

Members were guided through the spreadsheet and were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         In relation to residential homes, it was queried whether there was a difference between the price that private individuals paid and the price paid by the local authority.  Members were advised that the Council set a schedule of fees for residential homes and these fees were often lower than what the homes charged privately. 

·         It was queried what the justification was for the difference between the private fee and the local authority fee, and members were advised that this had been the subject of national debate for many years.

(NOTE: Councillor C L Strange left the meeting at 12.20pm)

·         Those people who were buying their care and support privately would typically not have an assessment.  However, it would be preferred if everyone had an assessment, as an assessment could indicate that the person did not need residential care at that time.  A lot of people entered residential care too early.

·         When the authority became involved with those people with fewer resources, the aim was to provide wraparound care to help them stay in their home.

·         Residential care could sometimes be too easy an option.  There was a need to ensure that the public were aware that assessments were for everyone.

·         64% of the carers supported by the County Council were caring for someone who was not receiving their own support, as they were not known to the County Council.  Carers were targeted with support to prevent people going into residential care too early as the carer could no longer cope.

·         In terms of people having assessments, it was commented that some people thought this process would be intrusive, particularly in terms of their finances. A new way was being piloted, which meant that a financial assessment would only be carried out if a person's needs required state support.  An assessment would look at what help could be provided to help people to stay independent at home.

·         It was highlighted that there were a number of school children who were carers and Members were advised that they would be covered by the Young Carers Service which was part of Children's Services.

·         There were approximately 6.5million carers in the country, and of these around 10% were children.

·         Support to carers was critical to preventing people going into very expensive services that they may not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

27.

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 521 KB

(To receive a report by Simon Evans, Health Scrutiny Officer, which provides the Committee with an opportunity to consider its future work programme for the coming year)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which set out the Committee's work programme for the coming year and included a list of probable items up to and including 1 July 2020.

 

It was noted that there would be two additional items for the meeting on 15 January 2020 – New Ways of Working in Social Care and the Better Care Fund, and a report on Day Services would be added to the agenda for 1 April 2020.

 

It was reported that the Chairman had suggested that it may be beneficial for members to visit some day centres prior to the report being considered at the meeting on 1 April 2020.  Officers confirmed that information about the day centres would be circulated to members of the Committee to enable them to make arrangements for a visit.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Committee's future work programme and additional items for inclusion be noted.

2.    That information regarding the day centres be circulated to the Committee

3.    That the following decisions made by the Executive/Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services further to consideration by this Committee on 3 July 2019 be noted:

a)    Extra Care housing – decision made by the Executive on 9 July 2019 to approve funding for the De Wint Extra Care Housing Scheme in Lincoln.

b)    Section 117 Policy – decision made by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services on 24 July 2019.

c)    Short Breaks Provision in Lincolnshire – decision made by the Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services on 5 July 2019 to approve the re-procurement of planned short breaks and emergency placements for Learning Disability Services at Swallow Lodge (North Hykeham) and Cedar House (Spalding).

d)    Performance Reporting – decision made by the Executive on 5 July 2019.

 

 
 
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