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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Virtual Meeting using Zoom

Contact: Anita Patel tel: 0116 454 6342. Email:  anita.patel@leicester.gov.uk  Aqil Sarang tel: 0116 454 5591 Email:  aqil.sarang@leicester.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

98.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

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 Members and officers present at the meeting introduced themselves.

99.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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

 

 

Minutes:

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

 

Councillor March Declared an Other disclosable interest in that she had caring responsibilities for a family member that was funded by Leicester City Council.

 

100.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 136 KB

The minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 19 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

Minutes:

Agreed:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 19 January 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

101.

PETITIONS

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

 

Minutes:

None received.

102.

QUESTIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND STATEMENTS OF CASE

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

Minutes:

None received.

103.

PROCUREMENT PLAN FOR 2021/23 pdf icon PDF 249 KB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report providing the Commission with an overview on the anticipated procurement activities to be undertaken by the Social Care and Education (SCE) department during 2021-23.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the report and pass any comments to the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education introduced the report on the procurement plan for 2021/23.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that this this was the largest spend in the Council and that the current contract value could be subject to change. With the current process in the tender stage Officers were unable to go into depth and detail. It was suggested that it had come to the Scrutiny Commission last year and details reflect Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland contribution.

 

Members of the Commission suggested that the service should try pilot schemes to deliver some of the services in house. It was noted that the service were exploring areas where there could be opportunities to run in house provisions.

 

Members of the Commission noted that it was important to continue dialogue during the tender process of large contracts. It was suggested that the Commission should delve further into the Councils largest spend and requested a standing item on the Commissions work programme. The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education noted that the service were happy to bring to the Commission whatever topics they would require for scrutiny. It was further noted that the larger contracts were usually straight forward as they were in established markets whilst some of the lower value services, the Council could influence as it was a large spender.

 

 The Lead Commissioner suggested that she would provide Members a response to the discussions on BAME and other new community training and engagement outside of the meeting. And the information would be shared to Members.

 

It was noted that the service were looking into how technology could support the improvement of the service and support service users living more independently. There was robust analysis to ensure the service were responding to the needs of the different communities across the city.

 

Agreed:

1)    That the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission note the Procurement Plan for 2021/23 and;

2)    That the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission request that the work programme for the Commission includes regular topics to be bought to the Commission as discussed for scrutiny.

 

 

104.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON DAY CARE / COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY SERVICES pdf icon PDF 241 KB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report with an update on the impact of Covid-19 on day centres and the people who attend them.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the reports and provide feedback to the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education.

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education introduced the report on the Day Care / Community Opportunity Services and updated on valuable services that had been disrupted as a result of the pandemic and those services that were still ongoing.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that regional work was funded through central government and were ongoing. The service had used alternative means using platforms such as Zoom to stay connected with service users conduct welfare calls which have been well received. Door to door calls and mobile phone calls were also made to those who were unable to be contacted virtually.  The service had also recruited 37 staff so far which was recognised as the best in the East Midlands.

 

The Healthwatch Representative noted that there was ongoing digital work with the NHS investigating into people’s experiences over the last year and how groups were monitored to suit their needs as service users.

 

Agreed:

1)    That the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission note the report and;

2)    That the Strategic Director For Social Care and Education be requested to bring the report on the review of the Community Opportunities framework to the Commission.

 

 

 

105.

ADULT SOCIAL CARE ANNUAL COMPLAINTS REPORT pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report to provide the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission with a copy of the 2019/20 Annual Report, with all complaints and commendations received by Adult Social Care.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the contents of the report.

Minutes:

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the item. It was noted that this was an annual report that was published online. It was an effective process to have the publics perspective to encourage change in process and develop learning for the future.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that following the feedback from the previous year, individuals leant through team meetings, forums and other forms.

 

It was suggested that it was difficult to compare statistics with Neighbouring organisations as different statistics were gathered and were not comparable. It was noted that the ombudsman would look at if the organisation had put in the correct support for its service user, rather than the finance and only a very small number of cases reach the ombudsman.

 

Members of the Commission noted that studying a small number of cases was not good for the overall picture and although the service were obliged to include specific information the report should serve a wider audience.

 

It was noted that although the service were 68% below average, the numbers fluctuate and this was similar to those neighbouring organisations. The ombudsman would not look at malpractice but would look at mal administration.

 

Agreed:

1)    That the report be noted;

2)    That the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education be requested to provide user friendly reports, and;

3)    That the service took lessons from the report and adjust to resolve issues and deliver an effective, robust service.

106.

SUPPORTED LIVING AND EXTRA CARE HOUSING pdf icon PDF 2 MB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report providing the Commission with an overview of the Supported Living and Extra Care Housing Strategy (2021/2031).

 

Members of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission are recommended to  note the Supported Living and Extra Care Housing Strategy and note the need for 396 additional units of accommodation over the next 10 years to support a range of vulnerable individuals. 

 

Minutes:

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the item and it was noted that this was an important aspect of Adult Social Care.

 

The Lead Commissioner for Adult Social Care and Commissioning delivered the presentation and outlined the strategy for the next 10 years.

 

The Chair welcomed the report and noted the Members concerns of the additional 396 units required over the next 10 years.

 

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education noted that the key was to ensure individual needs were met in the most effective way and avoid putting people in to care. It was suggested that although supported living was cheaper, it was also the most effective service to meet individual needs.

 

It was noted that there were a number of pressures on the Hamling Road and Tilling Road Schemes and no start dates were available for the development. Communications with the developers were ongoing and would be concluded in the near future. It was suggested that the developments would see different groups with onsite support either fixed time or 24/7 dependent on the needs of the service user. Members of the Commission were assured that the developments would see good quality and size developments with size standards in mind ensuring all stocks were up to standards.

 

It was also noted that policy provision would allocate £6.7 million along with other funding opportunities to meet the additional funding requirements.

 

Agreed:

1)    That the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission welcomes and notes the report;

2)    That the prediction of future growth be reviewed and;

3)    That the financial implications be bought back to the Commission at a later date.

107.

COVID-19 UPDATE

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education will provide a verbal update on the latest Covid-19 updates.

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education noted that, there had been progressive expansion of testing in Adult Social Care. The PCR test was carried out on staff on a weekly basis and on residents it was every 4 weeks. Testing to domiciliary care and supported living was available and Leicester had been the first authority to have access to this. There had been continued issues around access to data for all local authorities.

 

The Service were now able to assess the rate of infection with individual providers as the number of testing at organisations had risen and Leicester were at the centre of testing in Adult Social Care.

 

There had been a significant improvement in reduction of cases within care homes and a positive impact of the Vaccine. Numbers were at their lowest since October 2020. The Vaccination process had progressed into the wider workforce and residents, where 89% of residents and 69% of staff had been vaccinated and the vaccination data would be communicated to Members at a later date.

108.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 298 KB

The current work programme for the Commission is attached.  The Commission is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

Minutes:

Members were requested to contact the Chair or the Scrutiny Policy Officer for any items they would like considered on the work programme.

109.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

Minutes:

There being no further items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 8:20pm.