Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Rachel Wilson  Democratic Services Officer

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs J E Killey and Mrs M J Overton MBE.

 

It was noted that the Chief Executive, having received notice under Regulation 13 of the Local Government (Committee and Political Groups) Regulations 1990, had appointed Councillor R B Parker to replace Councillor Mrs J E Killey for this meeting only.

 

An apology for absence was also received from Councillor Mrs P A Bradwell OBE, Executive Councillor for Adult Care, Health and Children's Services.

 

 

2.

Declarations of Members' Interests

Minutes:

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

3.

Minutes of the meeting held on 26 February 2020 pdf icon PDF 257 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 26 February 2020, be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

4.

Announcements by the Chairman, Executive Councillor and Lead Officers

Minutes:

The Chairman extended the Committee's respects to Councillor Lewis Strange who had been a former member of the Committee; and expressed his and the Committee's best wishes to his family.

 

The Chairman also highlighted to the Committee, the County Council's decision on 26 June 2020, to discontinue the Safeguarding Boards Scrutiny Sub Group and allocate the responsibilities for the scrutiny of the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board to the Committee.  The Committee noted that it was planned to look at the Board's annual report in the autumn, and that other safeguarding items would be included in the Committee's work programme.

 

Glen Garrod, Executive Director Adult Services and Community Wellbeing advised the Committee that Holly Clarke, a Lincolnshire County Council social work student, who was currently undertaking an apprenticeship at the University of Lincoln, had won a national essay competition. The Committee noted that the competition had been run by the British Association of Social Workers and the essay had been entitled "Working Better Together: How do we build stronger relationships between social workers and people using services".  It was noted further that Holly had explored the theme "Beyond two metres apart - using social media to build stronger social work relationships over distance". Congratulations were extended to Holly from the Executive Director; and the Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

5.

Examples of Excellent Work during Covid-19 - Overview for the Committee pdf icon PDF 298 KB

(To receive a report and presentation by Chris Erskine, Lead Professional and Principal Social Worker, which provides the Committee with an overview of some of the excellent work which has been undertaken during the covid-19 pandemic)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Chris Erskine, Lead Professional/Principal Social Worker, Adult Care and Community Wellbeing provided a presentation and short video, which provided the Committee with some examples of the creative and flexible ways in which individuals and organisations had worked, to support the people Adult Care and Community Wellbeing had worked with and also highlighted some good news stories that had taken place during Covid-19.

 

It was reported that although Covid-19 had brought challenges, individuals, teams and organisations had all pulled together to provide the support needed in the community, by adopting new working practices and procedures.  It was noted that some of the new ways of working would continue once the pandemic was over.

 

It was highlighted that an essential part of the work had been to support practitioners and colleagues to have access to emerging information and guidance, and providing them with support to maintain their health and wellbeing.

 

Some of the new ways if working included:

 

·         Ensuring there was human contact as this was something that people really appreciated with interaction being conducted by telephone, video call; and where needed with help from the carer services.  It was highlighted that carer staff had gone over and above to ensure the people they cared did not  feel isolated;

·         That the reconfiguration of the discharge policy had helped in keeping the number of Covid-19 cases in care homes in Lincolnshire very low;  

·         Providing support to new staff and staff working from home. The Committee noted that the use of Teams had enabled contact remotely; ensuring that staff felt supported; and new and existing staff had been able to chat with others for advice and receive training when needed;

·         Provision of PPE equipment and guidance, it was highlighted that working with public health colleagues had led to the right advice being given at the right time;

·         Maintaining contact with people in the community at high risk.  It was reported that the most vulnerable people were identified early in the process; staff had made contact with them, and were continuing to do so on a weekly basis; and

·         The need to reflect on good working practices going forward, particularly the use of IT.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·         Thanks were expressed for the presentation and video which had captured the essence of what had been happening during lock down; and for everyone pulling together to ensure that the most vulnerable within the community were well cared for;

·         Reassurance was given that if a second wave was to come, procedures would be in place; some of which would be improved due to the knowledge gained so far.  As a result, it was felt that the service was now in a better position going forward;

·         IT provision and data allowance for staff remote working.  The Committee noted that IT had improved over the last three months, but there was awareness that the connectivity was not always consistent across the county; but there had been a reduction in the number IT issues being highlighted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Performance Report - Quarter 4 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 329 KB

(To receive a report by Caroline Jackson, Performance Manager, Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which presents performance against Council Business Plan targets for the Directorate as at the end of Quarter 4 2019/20)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Caroline Jackson, Performance Manager, Commercial Services.

 

The Committee was advised that the report pertaining to this item could be found on pages 15 to 72 of the agenda pack.  The report provided the Committee with an overview of performance for the suite of Corporate Plan measures designed to reflect the impact of the work of Adult Care and Community Wellbeing across five commissioning strategies.

 

Detailed at Appendix A to the report was a one page summary of performance against each target for the year; and Appendix B provided the Committee with a full analysis of each indicator over the year.  The Committee was advised that the report only covered 19 of the 24 measures and that this was primarily as a result of data not being available for five of the measures, due to Covid-19.  Of the 19 measures reported for Quarter four, 16 were reported as being either on target or exceeding target; and three were reported as being below target.

 

The three measures below target were:

 

·         M31 - Percentage of alcohol users that left specialist treatment successfully.  The Committee were reminded that this measure had been discussed previously at the 26 February 2020 meeting.  As a result, the target for 2020/21 had been changed to reflect a more appropriate target of 35% compared to the current target of 40%;

·         M34 – Chlamydia diagnosis – It was highlighted that this matter had also been discussed at the February meeting.  The Committee was advised that it had been agreed for this measure to be removed from quarter one 2020/21, as it was felt that it was not an appropriate measure. The Committee noted that the measure would be replaced once a suitable measure had been developed which was aligned to the new national sexual health strategy; and

·         M111 - People are supported to successfully quit smoking. The Committee noted the figure of 504 (people supported to successfully quit smoking) reported in quarter three had not been cumulative, the figure reported should have been 939.  The Committee noted further that there was a three month data lag and that the target was planned to be changed to reflect contractual requirements for 2020/21.

 

The Committee was advised that work was currently on-going developing performance reporting for the new Corporate Plan Success Framework and wider Council's performance and that this would be reported on from quarter two.

 

During a short discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·         The implications of Covid-19.  The Committee was advised that there had not been any patterns emerging.  It was however noted that there had been a reduction in the number of safeguarding contacts; and unlike the national picture, Lincolnshire had not seen a rise in the number of domestic abuse cases.  It noted that work was on-going with the Wellbeing Service to see if any trends emerged once lock down started to ease;

·         Forecasting assumptions – Reassurance was given that all providers were being monitored on a regular basis;

·         Smoking cessation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Outturn 2019-20 pdf icon PDF 539 KB

(To receive a report by Pam Clipson, Head of Finance – Adult Care and Community Wellbeing, which provides the Committee with the opportunity to consider the budget outturn for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing for 2019/20)

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Pam Clipson, Head of Finance, Adult Care and Community Wellbeing.

 

The Committee noted that Adult Care and Community Wellbeing (ACCW) had concluded the year with an underspend of £1.040m against its £227.37m budget. 

 

The Committee was advised that Covid-19 had impacted in Lincolnshire towards the end of 2019/20; and had resulted in ACCW incurring £0.099 costs for the procurement of personal protection equipment.  It was highlighted the unprecedented financial impact of Covid-19 would have on adult social care would be monitored regularly. 

 

The Committee noted the Adult Care and Community Wellbeing Medium Financial Plan, drafted in February 2020, forecast 2020/21 would see ACCW continue to deliver within its agreed budgets.  It was noted further that this position would be updated monthly given the potential impact of demand growth and Covid-19 in year and moving forward.

 

It was reported that following regional assurance, the Lincolnshire Better Care Fund Programme for 2019/20 had received national approval in early January 2020; and that plans were in place for a rollover of the programme into 2020/21.

 

During discussion, the Committee raised the following points:

 

·         Thanks were extended to officers for their excellent report and for their financial management.  However, some concern was expressed on the financial impact of Covid-19 going forward.  The Committee was advised that at the moment it was difficult to forecast what might happen; but it was felt that demand would exceed the grant money received from the government.  It was noted that this risk was being escalated nationally;

·         Financial planning going forward.  The Committee noted that the Council's budget programme was planned through to 31 March 2024; and that would be based on the worst case scenario.  Reassurance was given that the risks were being monitored;

·         Page 74 – Reference was made to the £1.860m accelerated recovery of income predominantly from direct payment refunds and debtor income.  Confirmation was given that the underspend at the end of the year would be re-aligned; and

·         Deprivation of Liberty – The Committee noted that a level of funding had been set aside in 2020/21 to ensure that demand was met, whilst the new Liberty Protection Standards were introduced.

 

AGREED

 

The Committee noted the outturn position for 2019/20 for Adult Care and Community Wellbeing.

8.

Adults and Community Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee Work Programme pdf icon PDF 1 MB

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

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from the Health Scrutiny Officer which set out the Committee's work programme up to and including 25 November 2020.

 

The Committee noted the decision made by the Executive on 3 March 2020 on the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Section 75 Partnership Agreement, following consideration by the Committee at its meeting on 26 February 2020.

 

The Committee noted further that if an item on Extra Care Housing went ahead, which was due to be considered by the Executive on 2 September, the Committee would need to meet prior to this date; and that the preferred date was for Tuesday 1 September 2020.

 

A suggestion was made that for later in the year, the Committee should receive an update relating to the on-going impact of Covid-19.

 

AGREED

 

1.    The work programme presented be noted.

 

2.    Note the decision made by the Executive on 3 March 2020 on the Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Mental Health Section 75 Partnership Agreement, following consideration by the Committee on 26 February 2020.

 

3.    Note that if the item on Extra Care Housing goes ahead for the Executive on 2 September 2020, the Committee would need to meet prior to this date and the preferred was Tuesday 1 September 2020.

 

 
 
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