Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

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 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 pf 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 30^th June 2020 are attached and the Commission is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Minute 61. Adult Social Care – Response to Covid-19, Action 3.

Users of the service had not been cross referenced with Liquid Logic, but all on the list had been contacted to ensure they were still receiving support.

Minute 63. Revision to Adult Social Care Charging Policy

The Scrutiny Commission had agreed that Option 1 be taken as the agreed option from the report to maintain the status quo. Members asked to be kept updated on this topic.

The Chair and Members of the Scrutiny Commission thanked the Executive for listening to scrutiny and were grateful for making the decision to continue with the status quo until such time things changed post Covid-19 time.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 30^th June 2020 be confirmed as a correct record.

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 Scrutiny Commission with an overview of the testing regime for the local residential and nursing care homes in Leicester and to provide a snapshot of the infection rates and number of deaths associated with Covid-19.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the content of the report and are invited to provide comment 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 testing regime for the local residential and nursing care homes in Leicester and provided a snapshot of the infection rates and number of deaths associated with Covid-19. Members were recommended to note the report and provide and comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

Martin Samuels, Strategic Director Social Care and Education, introduced the report. It was reported that Adult Social Care had looked at a range of options in terms of protecting care homes that had become national policy. The report also set out the number of care homes in the city and what types of support were provided and age ranges.

Members were asked to note that in summary, what had been found was a steadily reducing rate of infection in care homes. Details showed that when care homes were first tested in late spring infection rates in staff and residents were at 2.75% and 4.27% respectively and numbers were reported at .5% (staff) and 1% (residents) at the beginning of July.

The Strategic Director took the opportunity to mark the considerable efforts made by staff in care homes and in their home lives, and their hard work was reflected in the mortality rate in care homes, the number of infection rates coming down and the small number of residents who had been hospitalised. It was noted there had been logistical issues in delivering the national scheme and staff were conscious of the impact on the quality of life for residents and cares, for example, people had not been able to visit loved ones.

Tracie Rees, Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning informed the Scrutiny Commission that the authority contacted care homes at least once a week and an intelligence tracker had been developed by the Council to identify emerging issues and trends. Information and training on infection control had been provided, and homes supported through the testing process. The use of smart phones had also enabled family members to connect with loved ones. Plans were also in place to support initial testing of residents in the 18 supported living schemes in the city. Mass testing had not been progressed with domiciliary care as Public Health had advised that workers could access community testing.

The Chair stated he was pleased to hear there had been no deaths in older people since 21^st July and wanted to thank the staff in care homes and council staff for their commitment and for working hard to reduce infection rates.

In response to Members’ questions and observations, the following points were made:

·         Initially the Ranox testing kits had been put to one side as there were questions regarding their safety, and the subsequent withdrawal of these test kits had led to some delays. Issues had now been resolved. It was reported that issues were starting to arise in terms of the results of tests being provided, with waits of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to provide Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with an update 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.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the content of the report and are invited to provide comment and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

The Chair agree to hear the agenda items out of order and took the following report next.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which provided the Commission Members with an update 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 report and provide and comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

It was noted that Members had received a report on the situation at the last meeting of the Commission on 30^th June 2020, whereby it was believed LCCL were at the end of their consultation process with staff members. It was reported that subsequently the LCCL had imposed new terms and conditions, and officers were of the understanding from Unison that those staff affected did sign new contracts on 4^th July 2020. There had been no staffing issues raised, and checks had been made to ensure there were adequate staffing levels. It was further noted that the terms and conditions imposed on them were still better than those commonly used in the care home system, though it was pointed out that terms and conditions across the sector were below the standard that officers believed was required to reflect the demands of the work.

Members had previously been informed of a request from LCCL to defer a capital payment. The Council had responded by asking LCCL to defer the change to terms and conditions, with no response given. Therefore, the remainder payment to the Council for the sale of the home was expected on the existing timetable at the end of October 2020 and no extension would be granted.

Members raised concern that standards would decline over a period of time, and asked for a recommendation that officers keep a watching brief on the deferral of payment, and that the care homes be monitored in twelve months-time to see if there had been any long-term implication on the change of conditions and staff turnover.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor, Social Care and Anti-Poverty stated that the LCCL had not approached the Council again for a deferral in payment. It was noted that the previous report had mentioned the regular checks made by the Quality Team, and that contact with Unison would be maintained and staff would continue to be supported. It was agreed that an update report on payment and quality of care would be brought back to the Commission at a future meeting.

It was also asked if the guise of choice of care was a misnomer and an aspiration. Councillor Russell agreed that choice could be a misnomer, but that personal funds dictated what choice people did or did not have. Tracie Rees added that if a home was not adhering to quality checks and there were concerns, the authority could take action and in some cases in the past had terminated contracts. It was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report to provide Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with an overview of the work in progress to understand the impact of Covid-19 on individuals with a learning disability and to consider new models of support.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the content of the report and are invited to provide comment 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 work in progress to understand the impact of Covid-19 on individuals with a learning disability and to consider new models of support. Members were recommended to note the report and provide and comments and feedback to the Strategic Director and Executive.

Tracie Rees, Director of Adult Social Care and Commissioning introduced the report which gave a brief overview of the day care services that had had to close and the impact on service users. Points made were:

·         Officers had heard and seen over the weeks the difficulties for people with learning disabilities in not undertaking their usual daily routines, and the strain it had placed on families and carers.

·         With the services closed it had given officers an opportunity to see how differently the service could be provided. ADASS had appointed consultants (at no cost to the Council) to look at what was happening regionally and nationally and to present alternative models of care. Members asked for a report to be brought to a future meeting of the Commission.

·         Work had started on understanding the impact on other groups who would usually attend day care or receive community-based support. A report would be brought to the Commission at a future meeting.

In response to Members questions, the following points were made:

·         With regards to the pandemic effect on carers looking after vulnerable people, regular contact had been maintained with families and individuals, for example, staff from Hastings Road Day Centre had kept in regular touch through weekly calls and outreach support. Individuals had also been supported in their homes, as a means of giving carers respite, this included virtual Zoom calls and delivering activity packs to individuals which had helped to alleviate stress levels.

·         It was reported there were instances where families had gone into crisis. There were very often complex health needs as well as a learning disability, and the families had been supported but it would have been better if there had been more crisis response services to prevent individuals from being admitted to hospital. Officers had worked with health colleagues to look at carer/ family breakdowns which appear to have been triggered by the lack of daily routine and social interaction, and health issues. It would be interesting to find out what had worked well and what hadn’t.

·         The Carers Survey was due to be completed in 2021. When the survey responses were returned, the results would be reported back to the Scrutiny Commission at a future meeting, to allow the Commission to compare models of support.

·         For the 29 individuals who used Hastings Road Day Care service, outreach was offered to all families and 12 families had taken up support, where the authority’s own staff had gone in and provided assistance. For the remaining families weekly calls had been made. If they had needed support they had been visited at home. During the period there was one individual  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

The Scrutiny Commission task group report on a review into Adult Social Care workforce planning for the future is submitted.

The Chair introduced the Task Group report ‘Adult Social Care Workforce Planning: Looking to the Future’ a review that looked into the future and reviewed the findings of workforce planning. The Chair wanted to convey his sincere thanks to the Task Group Members and Councillor March for conducting the review and producing the report which he described as informative and presented in a way that was easy to digest.

Cllr March thanked Task Group Members, Adult Social Care Officers, Nazir Hussein from the Social Care Development Group, Matt Errington from Skills for Care, and Anita Patel (Scrutiny Policy Officer) for her assistance in bringing the report together. Councillor March also thanked other people including care homes and unions that had taken part. The following points were made during the presentation of the report:

·         The report highlighted the severity of a situation the authority would find itself in in 15 years’ time.

·         The lowlight was the authority would have to recruit 1.5 times the existing workforce again.

·         There were two key recommendations highlighted:

1/ As soon as reasonably possible, it was recommended to pay the Real Living Wage and commissioning out care at the Real Living Wage and to shape the expectation for those providing care locally around slightly higher wages.

2/ To expedite the 2019 Manifesto commitment to sign up to the Ethical Care Charter and implement the requirements there as soon as possible.

·         Other changes were recommended on moving towards better work and care, many of which were free or low cost.

Matt Errington was present from Skills for Care, a national charity funded by the Department for Health and Social Care. The following points were made:

·         The meeting was informed that part of the work programme was the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS), which historically was called the National Minimum Data Set (NMDS-SC). Completion of the data set was mandatory for local authorities but not mandatory for the private, independent or voluntary sector care providers.

·         It was noted that completion rates varied across the country. In Leicester the rate of return as of June 2020 was 34% of providers which was below the national average at around 55%. Based on the level of their return it made them illegible to be able to claim from the Workforce Development Funding which was dispersed by Skills for Care to upskill the adult social care workforce with qualifications and training for staff relevant to the sector.

·         Data in the report was largely taken from the ASC-WDS system and could be analysed. Based on the data it was considered the workforce needed to grow by 36% in line with the ageing population. Taking into consideration other factors, for example, turnover of workforce, and the number of staff reaching retirement age in the next 15 years, it was anticipated that an extra 7 – 15% of extra people were needed dependent on job roles, and was a particular issue in the domiciliary care market.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor, Social Care  ...  view the full minutes text for item 73.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 6.10pm.