Issue - meetings

Councillor Rita Patel, Assistant City Mayor to give a verbal update on the consultation process and the outcomes of discussions held with the Trade Unions.

A timetable detailing the consultation process will be tabled at the meeting.

Councillor Rita Patel, Assistant City Mayor attended the meeting and gave a verbal update on the current phase of the consultation process.

Members were informed that the consultation process had not yet been completed and no decisions had yet been made regarding the future of elderly persons homes in the City.

The Scrutiny Commission were of the opinion that a timetable should be planned to enable comments to be fed into the consultation process and agreed that the scheduled 11^th July meeting be devoted to this topic enabling evidence to be drawn together. It was suggested and agreed that, whilst the current consultation was around Phase 1 of the process the Scrutiny Commission should look at both Phases 1 and 2 of the consultation process. A large amount of information had already been gathered as part of the previous review undertaken by the Adult Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Commission. Between now and the 11^th July meeting members might wish to visit elderly persons homes and arrange to speak with residents and families. It would also be beneficial to gather evidence from the Trade Unions. It was further suggested that the views from other local; authorities be sought.

In conclusion it was agreed that, prior to the next meeting, some members of the Scrutiny Commission might want to undertake visits to elderly person’s homes and speak to people. This exercise represented an opportunity to undertake an exploration of what could be done by the City Council and what was achievable. It was agreed that a Special Meeting be arranged for |Monday 1^st July to gather further information from stakeholders and look to meet with the Health Scrutiny Commission to discuss issues around nursing care in homes, along similar lines to that offered by Hampshire County Council.