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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Rooms G.01 and G.02, Ground Floor, City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ

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

37.

CHAIRS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Minutes:

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

A minutes silence was observed in the memory of Commission Member Councillor Ratilal Govind who had passed away earlier on in the day.

38.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

39.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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

 

 

Minutes:

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

40.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 158 KB

The minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission held on Thursday 7 October 2021 have been circulated and the Commission is asked to confirm them as a correct record.

Minutes:

AGREED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission from 7 October 2021 be confirmed as a correct record.

41.

PETITIONS

The Monitoring Officer to report on any petitions received.

 

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

42.

QUESTIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND STATEMENTS OF CASE

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

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer noted that none had been received.

43.

COVID 19 UPDATE

The Stragtegic Director for Social Care and Education will provide a verbal update on the current position.

 

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

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education provided a verbal update to the Commission. It was noted that:

·         In light of the national situation with the new variant, the overall situation with infection rates was in an improving situation in care homes

·         There had been 13 new cases reported in care homes settings which was lower than that of the week prior.

·         Following the passing of the deadline date of vaccinations for care home staff, there were 2 care homes where there were concerns raised but the situation was in hand and services continued

·         1% of staff were not yet double vaccinated and progress was being made with the booster vaccinations

·         60% of care home residents have had their booster vaccinations

·         Although staff booster vaccinations were lower, the department were working closely with the NHS.

 

It was further noted that the transition on 11 November where care home staff were required to be vaccinated had gone smoothly and only a very small number of Council Staff were not vaccinated and any underlying issues were being addressed, the second phase would see all Health and Social Care staff required to be vaccinated by March 2022.

 

It was also noted that following the publication of the governments white paper on Adult Social Care, the paper referenced Leicester and its people centred approach to delivering service but did not contain much that was new and no core funding had been allocated. The paper did suggest an additional investment of £1billion over a period of 3 years, of which £500million was allocated for training and the other for technological improvements.

 

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty noted that the paper had left authorities frustrated across the country. Although, nice things had been said within the paper, no money had been made available to meet the care needs of the people now or to prepare for the demand in the coming years.

 

Members of the Commission noted that the uptake for the Flu Jab had now increased and queried what the stance was with the authority going forward in the future. It was suggested that the Chief Operation Officer be requested to confirm whether it would be a possibility to offer the annual Flu Jab to all Council Employees.

 

AGREED:

1)    That the Members of the Commission welcomed the additional investment for training but noted that this was not enough overall for the sector; and

2)    That Officers be congratulated for their work that had been highlighted in the white paper.

44.

WINTER CARE PLAN - UPDATE pdf icon PDF 196 KB

The Startegic Director for Social Care and Education will deliver a presentation providing Members of the Commission with information on the winter plan.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to notet the presentation and pass any comments to the Startegic Director for Social Care and Education.

Minutes:

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Education introduced the item.

 

The Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding delivered a presentation on the Winter Plan.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         As an authority it was important for the authority to be a sensitive employer and provide strong supportive leadership

·         £1 billion had been allocated to Social Care from the Health and Social Care Levy

·         The amount of work delivered within personal homes had increased by 20% from the previous year

·         Members of the Commission noted that the commitment and ability of frontline staff should be commended

It was further noted that:

·         There was a backlog of planned reviews and Occupational Therapy (OT) assessments were based on risk and needs

·         The backlog was due to restraints on resources and a new OT post which was fully funded had now been advertised, but this was a difficult post to recruit to as trained OT’s can work in a wide range of roles

·         Staff received mental health support through regular quality conversations, staff reflective time and the Mental Health Well-Being Hub.

·         The deficit on staff was a national issue and the uptake on rolls were fairly low. It was important to retain the staff this winter as it was common for staff to walk away from their role for a break

·         It suggested that reducing bureaucracy may be a direction, forms had now been transformed into liquid logic forms without loosing safe practice and procedure

·         The potential impact of the new Covid variant was unknown and the Service had no control on government guidance, but the concerns were serious.

 

AGREED:

1)    Members of the Commission be recommended to note the additional difficulties for the department and the new factors that increase the pressure, and that;

2)      The Officers be thanked for their continuous efforts.

45.

LEARNING DISABILITIES PLAN UPDATE pdf icon PDF 469 KB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits a report updating the Members of the Commission on the Learning Disabilities Plan.

 

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 Deputy City Mayor for Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the item and commended Officers for their work over the difficult periods.

 

The Lead Commissioner delivered the report on the Learning Disabilities Plan.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         The care recipient statements spoke loudly to the Members of the Commission

·         Officers were commended for the simple and easy to read plan

·         Information was available on engagement with the BAME community and Officers suggested this could be circulated to Members of the Commission

 

The Service Management Team had been strengthened and the Service were learning from reviews and implementing any findings into practice.

 

AGREED:

1)    That the Strategic Director for Social Care and Education be requested to provide further information on how the plan engages with the BAME communities with learning disabilities, highlighting any issues and examples of new initiatives and improvements to service, and that

2)    The Learning Disabilities Plan be noted.

 

46.

LEICESTER SAFEGUARDING ADULTS BOARD - ANNUAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 836 KB

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education submits the annual report on Leicester Safeguarding Adults Board.

 

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

Minutes:

The Strategic Director for Social Care and Education introduced the report on behalf of the Chair of the Leicester Safeguarding Adults Board (LSAB). It was noted that the accessibility issue in the report had been addressed and that the report was written for a specific audience. It was further noted that this was not a report produced by Leicester City Council.

 

As part of the discussions it was noted that:

·         Members of the Commission welcomed the report and noted that info from the 2011 was now out of date and that it was fascinating to see how we had changed in a decade

·         Members of the Commission welcomed the focusses for next year

·         Members previous comments and learning from reviews had now been adopted

·         Data was being put together on hidden harm and domestic abuse, with visits beginning to take place, resulting in reduced lack of visibility in comparison to this time last year.

·         Healthwatch Leicester and Leicestershire had worked closely with the LSAB and had made contributions to the report.

 

AGREED:

1)    That the Chair of the LSAB be requested to make future reports more understandable to all;

2)    That the Chair for the LSAB be thanked for the report and;

3)    That the report be brought back to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission in the future.

47.

TASK GROUP REPORT - PROGRESS UPDATE

The Vice Chair of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission will provide a progress update on the Task Group Report.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to note the report and pass any comments to the Vice Chair of the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission.

Minutes:

The Vice Chair updated the Commission on the work carried out by the Task Group. It was noted that recommendations will be brought to the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission in the new year.

48.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 415 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:

The Chair noted that the items for the upcoming meeting in the new year would be confirmed at the next agenda planning meeting.

49.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

Minutes:

There being no items of urgent business the meeting closed at 7:45pm.