Agenda item

The Director for Adult Social Care & Commission submits a report to update the Commission on the commitment to develop an early action strategy for Adult Social Care, including details of the Leading Better Lives project. Members will be asked to note the report and provide comments.

The Director for Adult Social Care & Commissioning presented the report along with the Co-Chair of the Making it Real Group. It was noted that:

·       The Council’s budget is under significant pressure, and adult social care is the largest spend. As part of reviewing budgets and comparing the department to other comparable cities, it has been acknowledged that spend is higher in the city. Whilst we have good fee rates and many people do not require large packages, there are more people drawing on support in the city that contribute to higher costs.

·       It was understood through peer reviews with authorities with similar demographics that were managing their spend had well-developed preventative offer and joined up community support for residents to access and therefore not seeking support from adult social care until later. The department therefore have undertaken work the Ernst & Young Consultants to identify how the Council could work collaboratively internally and externally on an early prevention offer.

·       An opportunity arose to work with Social Care futures, a national movement partnering with local authorities to identify and tackle issues impacting social care. Their ethos on co-production aligned with the commitment in Leicester and therefore agreed to work together to develop the Leading Better Lives project.

·       The department have pledged to work in co-production to ensure projects, processes and procedures have been considered by those with lived experience and the Making it Real Group was therefore established and work alongside officers.

·       When embarking on the project, it was evident that individuals felt it was important to not focus on ‘prevention’ but talk more about allowing individuals to lead a better life and have choices to continue to live in their community. Assumptions were not to be made throughout the project and there was a commitment with trained facilitators that residents were provided the opportunity to share their voice in their own words and it would be listened to when asking what works well in the community, what doesn’t work well and what would people like to see in the future.

·       Information was sought through 14 focus groups, though facilitators would often liaise with various individuals and groups as part of these sessions. 76 survey responses were received and a total of 614 pieces of information was collated through peoples’ voices and stories.

·       The data collected was presented at two workshops in July with attendance from council services, partners from health, the voluntary and community sector and those with lived experience. All information was shared in its original form and attendees were able to theme information to identify four priorities to make a difference for residents and agreed shared responsibility to work together to deliver actions.

·       The project reaffirmed the activities and assets that exist within communities. It provided an opportunity to commit to work collectively to identify ideas and solutions to add further value and create an early action plan to support residents in Leicester.

The Commission commended the positive and collaborative work to identify priority themes to be taken forward. In response to questions from Members it was noted that: 
 

·       The four priority themes have an allocated lead and group to identify possible solutions for improvements. Information collected that does not align with the identified themes will be reviewed to speak with others about possible actions to address.

·       The focus groups and workshops have highlighted that the project is not about creating something new as lots of great services and activities exist in the city. There has been a shared commitment across the public and the voluntary and community sector to work better together to facilitate and ensure people are aware and can access support in the community. Options are being considered for roadshows and pop-up events across the city to share information and signpost residents to available services and activities. 

The Chair expressed concerns with changes across the voluntary and community sector over recent years and hoped that a fundamental shift in approach and collaborative working could help with the preventative model and ensure the sector is sustained. It was requested that the Commission be provided with additional information on the budget for prevention as well as the amount spent on Ernst & Young consultants and the savings identified through the work.

The Deputy City Mayor for Social Care, Health and Community Safety highlighted that services are at a very early stage of changing its approach and noted that various activities and services are available that may not be defined as preventative but will inevitably have a positive contribution to the preventative offer, such as knit and natter groups in communities preventing social isolation. It was further highlighted that the Council is also working alongside health partners on prevention.

The Chair thanked officers and Mo for presenting the positive report and requested the Commission continue to be kept updated on the development of the early action plan.

AGREED:  

·       The Commission noted the report.

·       Additional information to be circulated.

·       Item to be added to the work programme for the Commission to continue to be updated on the early action plan.