Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Martin Samuels, Strategic Director, Social Care and Education.

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting, and reminded everyone it was a virtual meeting, as permitted under Section 78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 to enable meetings to take place whilst observing social distancing measures. The procedure for the meeting was outlined to those present.

At the invitation of the Chair, all officers present at the meeting introduced themselves.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Members were asked to declare any interests they had in the business on the agenda.

Councillor March declared a Prejudicial Disclosable Interest in agenda item 7, Revision to Adult Social Care Charging Policy and informed those present that she would withdraw from the meeting when the agenda item was discussed. The Chair informed the meeting that he would change the order in which agenda items would be taken and moved agenda item 7 to the end of the meeting.

Councillor Joshi declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that his wife worked for the Reablement Team at Leicester City Council.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct, the interest was not considered so significant that it was likely to prejudice the Councillor’s judgement of the public interest. Councillor Joshi was not, therefore, required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration and discussion of the agenda items.

The minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 4 February 2020 are attached and the Commission is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 4 February 2020 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Chair informed those present that since the last meeting Cllr Khote had passed away. Thoughts and best wishes were passed to her family and friends.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any questions, representations or statements of case.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representations or statements of case had been received.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to provide the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with an overview of the ongoing work and support provided by Adult Social Care (ASC) services, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members are recommended to note the report and provide any comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which provided the Commission with an overview of the ongoing work and support provided by Adult Social Care (ASC) services in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Members were recommended to note the report and provide any comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor, Social Care and Anti-Poverty, thanked officers working in Adult Social Care who she described were absolutely incredible. She stated staff had gone above and beyond their normal duties and had thought through every possible option to keep service users safe in challenging circumstances.

Ruth Lake, Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding, presented the report. Key messages to note included the service had been able to continue to provide the core statutory offer to ensure the safety of individuals and by ensuring they continued to receive the care and support they needed. It was further reported that home visiting had been reduced in order to avoid non-essential visits whilst following social distancing guidance.

It was reported that there was a reduction in elective hospital activity and enablement referrals had fallen. It was further noted there was lots of capacity to meet demand across all services due to a reduction in the level of usual business, but levels were beginning to return to normal. Members were informed there had been a significant change in the number of alerts being made, largely because people were worried about their neighbours. Officers continued to work hard to enable all front-line services to continue safely and ensure safety and wellbeing of staff.

Tracie Rees, Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning, referred to the services for vulnerable individuals being provided by external providers. Officers were working closely with care homes of which there were 103 in the city. The Council had a contact with 99 of those but continued to work with them all to monitor the impact of the virus, including levels of PPE to ensure safe working practices.

It was reported the Council had also secured a block contract with a local care home for the provision of 15 isolation beds for patients discharged with Coivid-19 or were showing symptoms of infection.

There had also been extra support for domiciliary care and supported living providers to ensure no one was waiting for a package of care to be arranged. There was also ongoing support to voluntary sector providers.

It was noted that Hastings Road Day Centre had closed on 20^th March due to the pandemic. Staff had continued to provide an outreach support service to prevent crisis, and to enable people to access other community services.

Members noted that testing was ongoing with kits delivered to every care home in the zone marked out. The Council continued to work with county colleagues to ensure test kits were available, regular webinars were held to share timely information, and additional finance had been provided to the whole of the care market to cover  ...  view the full minutes text for item 61.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to update the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission on the proposal made by Leicestershire County Care Limited (LCCL) to change the Terms and Conditions of staff that transferred from the Council’s employment in 2015.

Members are recommended to note the content of the report and to provide comment and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

The agenda items were taken out of order.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which updated the Commission on the proposal made by Leicestershire County Care Limited (LCCL) to change the Terms and Conditions of staff that had transferred from the Council’s employment in 2015. Members were recommended to note the content of the report and to provide comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor, Social Care and Anti-Poverty, introduced the report and referred to the threat to the staff terms and conditions at a time when staff were undergoing a very difficult period, and were finally getting recognition for the work they did. Working with Unison, the Authority had made various approaches to the Owner of the homes and had done whatever it could to encourage them to engage and discuss the issue. It was noted the Authority would continue to monitor the quality of the care provided in the homes, and reiterated the potential for LCCL to lose long-standing, well-trained staff. It was reported that LCCL had made a request to defer final payments to the Council, and it had been responded that a discussion could be had if they deferred making any changes to the terms and conditions until after the Covid-19 pandemic and when it would be known what was happening in the care market. The Authority was continuing to monitor the financial position of LCCL to make sure the Authority did not have a chain that was unstable, which would have a significant impact on residents, but the last accounts publicly available did not show that this was the case.

Tracie Rees, Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning, informed the meeting that despite Unison making representation, the Company had issued workers with a letter to state they had until Saturday 4^th July to sign a new contract or they would be dismissed. It was reported that Unison had stated staff were worried about their employment status and were likely to sign up to the terms and conditions. Looking forward it was noted that Unison could take LCCL to a tribunal. It was also recorded that the company had high income levels which did not reflect the rationale for changing conditions.

Members noted the Company had stated they were making changes due to Covid-19. It was reported that the Council had paid over £167k to cover expenses, and voiced concern the Company was making profit, had a good level of occupancy but were still reducing the terms and conditions of staff. It was also voiced they had failed to take into account public mood and the support being given to care workers and the NHS.

Tracie Rees informed the meeting that in terms of the amount of money the Company owed Leicester City Council, the final payment of £265k for the sale of Thurncourt was due at the end of the five-year period in October 2020, so at this point in time they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to inform the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission of the findings of a consultation exercise in relation to proposed changes to the charging policy for non-residential care services.

Members are recommended to note the consultation findings and make any comments to the Strategic Director and Executive, and note the implications of Covid-19 on the approach to implementation of any decision.

This agenda item was taken last.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which informed the Commission of the findings of a consultation exercise in relation to proposed changes to the charging policy for non-residential care services. Members were recommended to note the consultation findings and make any comments to the Strategic Director and Executive and not the implications of Covid-19 on the approach to implementation of any decision.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor, Social Care and Anti-Poverty, stated a commitment had been made to bring the results of consultation back to Scrutiny. It was further stated that it was not known if the Government would try to recoup some of the additional monies it had paid out during the pandemic, or whether funding increased if the Government recognised difficulties. The Deputy City Mayor also said the Council did not want to be in a position to reconsult and increase anxiety.

Ruth Lake, Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding presented the report and brought to the attention of Members recommendations contained within the report, but deferral implementation from April 2021 due to the pandemic, as detailed in section 3.8 of the report. Members were asked to note options identified for consideration in relation to the treatment of disability benefits provided via the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and were provided at section 3.6 to the report.

Councillor Kitterick outlined reasons why he believed the report should not be considered during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the decision to take away £1.3million worth of cuts against the most vulnerable in society. He added that in light of the pandemic until the authority could look at the whole of the budget for the foreseeable future that Scrutiny give the strongest steer that they recognise financial pressures, but that the authority stay with Option 1, to continue disregarding the higher or enhanced rate of disability benefits down to the lower or standard rate, within the financial assessment, and for a future consultation to be undertaken, and that the Council look across all finances following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Councillor Russell stated she completely understood Members’ opinion on the report, but the changes would not affect all individuals but would be tailored to individual circumstances. She added the council was in a difficult position and had been asking government to look at funding for Adult Social Care since 2010.

The Chair noted that the report was due to be brought to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission for a while, and that sooner or later a decision would have to be made, and that the consultation had received a good response with over 1,000 people responding. The Chair asked that if the proposals were approved and the maximum increase of £29.45 contribution per week be required, what support would those people affected get as a buffering zone. Matthew Cooper, Contracts & Assurance Business Manager, drew to Members’ attention that the potential income levels of £1.3million was based on an estimate of take  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 5.56pm.