Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Kitterick.

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

Members of the commission were asked to declare any interests they may have 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.

Councillor March declared an Other Disclosable Interest in that she had caring responsibilities for an older family member.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct neither interest was considered so significant that it was likely to prejudice the Councillors’ judgement of the public interest and therefore neither Councillor was required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration of any items on the agenda.

The minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on 22 April 2021 have been circulated and the Commission is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

It was noted that Members of the Commission had requested to see data on how money was being spent on Domiciliary Care Contracts and a request was made to the Strategic Director of Social Care and Education to bring the available data to a future meeting.

It was suggested that it would be beneficial to bring the data to the Scrutiny Commission and then to the Task Group Review.

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission 22 April 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the Membership of the Commission for the next municipal Year:

Councillor Joshi (Chair)

Councillor March (Vice Chair)

Councillor Broadwell

Councillor Govind

Councillor Kaur Saini

Councillor Kitterick

Councillor Dr Moore

The Chair welcommed the new Members to the Commission and thanked the previous Commission Members for their efforts during a difficult year.

AGREED:

That the Membership of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission for 2021/22 be noted.

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the dates of the Commission for the next municipal year:

Tuesday 29 June 2021

Thursday 26 August 2021

Thursday 7 October 2021

Thursday 2 December 2021

Thursday 13 January 2022

Thursday 10 March 2022

AGREED:

That Members of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission be requested to note the dates for the municipal year.

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

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

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education will provide a verbal update.

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education updated the Commission on the latest data for the week commencing 19 June 2021.

It was noted that

·         the number of people testing positive had been on the going up although the numbers were not as high as the beginning of the year.

·         The Infection Control Fund had been renewed until the end of September.

·         The total amount of funding available was less than what was made available previously.

It was noted that the vaccination of care home residents was 84%, these had all received their second dose of vaccination and care home staff who had received both doses of the vaccination was at 65%. 25 care homes across the city had 90% of all residents who had received both doses of the vaccination.

It was suggested that Mandatory Vaccinations for all care home staff would be in effect towards the end of the year however no guidance to achieving this had yet been received and communications had begun with care homes in regards with contingency plans.

As part of the discussion it was noted that staff have had the opportunity to receive both doses of the vaccination and the hesitancy did not vary to what was considered the same across the board and the Service were aware of who had received their vaccinations and who had not yet been vaccinated.

Regional departments were working together with HR colleagues the best approach once the vaccinations were made mandatory.

AGREED:

1)    That the update be noted; and

2)    That the Commission thanked the department for their ongoing hard work and delivery of service.

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report introducing the new Adult Social Care (ASC) Strategy.

Members of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission are recommended to note the strategic priorities for the Department and pass any comments to the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education.

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the strategy.

The Director for Adult Social Care and Safeguarding presented an overview of the report.

As part of the discussions, it was noted that:

·         Members of the Commission supported the new strategy as it was a good way of engaging with service users and monitoring areas of underperformance.

·         It was suggested that promoting independent living was a major factor of the 3 year plan.

·         Members of the Commission suggested regular updates to the Commission to report back on the objectives, this would be beneficial as this was a wide area and regular scrutiny would allow for best performance.

·         Each division would produce strategies to reach their objectives and these would be bought to the Commission on request.

·         The Chair suggested that this item be added to the Work Programme to allow the Commission to monitor progress on objectives.

·         It was essential to provide support to those who are carers but carry out their caring responsibilities unknowingly.

·         The Working Carers Group was aimed at those who were of working age but also had caring responsibilities.

AGREED:

1)    That the Strategic Director be requested to provide future updates;

2)    That Officers be encouraged to flag areas of improvement; and

3)    That the report be noted.

The Strategic Director of Social Care and Education submits a report which provides an overview of practice developments in support of the Adult Social Care strategic priority, to embed a strength-based model of support.

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

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the item and noted that the Service were now working with individuals and families to design person centred care packages.

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education presented an overview of the report and noted that this approach was fundamentally important in the way social care was perceived. Using strength-based practice would allow for a cultural shift in the way the service operates.

As part of the discussions Members of the Commission noted that:

·         This was a step in the right direction and Members of the Commission welcomed the report.

·         Although finances were an area of concern, the service should not be driven by a financial agenda and should continue to support people to find solutions that suit the individual and monitor whether money was being saved.

·         It was suggested that although this shift was a continuous process, 12 to 18 months would be a tangible time to embed and sustain the plan.

·         Liquid logic forms would allow for regular updates on individuals rather than a whole new application.

·         Members suggested that this was a noble, impressive enterprise and would require encouragement to allow for cultural change.

AGREED:

1)    That the Members of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission support the proposed improvements;

2)    That the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education along with Officers be thanked for the ongoing work; and

3)    That the item be added to the work programme to allow for the Commission to track progress.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education will provide a verbal update to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission on Leicestershire County Care Limited (LCCL).

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education provided an update on Leicestershire County Care Limited (LCCL).

Following the recent media coverage of outstanding balances owed to the Council, the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education noted that the full outstanding balance had now been cleared by LCCL.

The relationship had now improved and LCCL were committed to delivering a quality care service.

AGREED:

1)    That the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education be requested to keep the Commission informed and future arrangements; and

2)    That the Officers and the previous Commission Members be thanked for their efforts in resolving this matter.

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.

Members to consider a proposal for a task group review topic (Chair to present).

The Vice Chair presented the scoping document for the proposed Adult Social Care review.

Members of the Commission were requested to support the Vice Chair in forming a working group over the municipal year.

The Chair noted that Members of the Commission should forward any proposed item for the work programme to the Scrutiny Policy officer or to the Chair for consideration.

There being no other items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 7:05pm.