Agenda item

The Director, Adult Social Care and Safeguarding submits a report that notes the position of the Better Care Fund (BCF) activity and performance at Quarter Two of 2016/17. This is a partnership plan and the Deputy Director of Strategy for the Clinical Commissioning Group will be in attendance to answer questions from Members. The Commission is asked to note the contents of the report and make any comments.

The Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding submitted an update report, which noted the position of the Better Care Fund activity and performance at Q2 of 2016 / 17.

Members considered the report and officers responded to a number of queries and comments raised during the discussion:

·      The Mental Health Housing Team was commissioned by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG); they gave practical support to people in Mental Health hospitals to prepare them for discharge.

·      The figure for emergency admissions in the city was lower than in the county; which, it was believed was due to the success of the Better Care Fund (BCF). The work that was taking place with the clinical response team   was proving to be effective. The Strategic Director for Adult Social Care stated that he believed that the BCF in Leicester was working very well and that from available information nationally, the Department had secured in the BCF, the fifth highest funding allocation from the NHS for this fund.

·      In response to a query relating to the recovery action plan and concerns that no improvement had been made when completing health assessments, the Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding stated that she would refer that query to the Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning, Leicester City CCG.

·      Members heard that some money was allocated against service delivery. This was previously funded via CCG budgets prior to the BCF, but was now funded within BCF and appeared not to be subject to performance monitoring. The apparent lack of performance monitoring was queried by Members, but the Director explained that because funding came to the local authority prior to the BCF, this was monitored through a different target and mechanism from the BCF performance framework.   A member requested that in future, the report should include additional information for items that were not part of the BCF. Members sought assurances that those items were also giving value for money.

·      Members heard that there was some uncommitted money that had not been specified for a particular scheme, but would be used where there were budget pressures.

·      A Member requested more information on Section 3.5.2 (Delayed Transfer of Care), which stated that an analysis of the reasons for Leicester Partnership Trust Mental Health delays largely pointed to patients awaiting completion of health assessments.   A further concern was raised that a key issue had been raised with the CCG Commissioners relating to the lack of available trained staff within the Continuing Health Care system to complete assessments in a timely manner. Assurances were sought that action was being taken to rectify this. The Commission was advised that a response would be sought from the Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning, Leicester City CCG.

·      A concern was raised that the introduction of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) might impact on the work of the BCF in Leicester.   The Strategic Director responded that they would work with colleagues in the Leicester City CCG to try to ensure that the developing STP would not impact adversely on the ongoing good performance of the BCF.

·      A comment was made that the BCF was now in its third year, and a concern was raised as to how success could be sustained without future funding. The Strategic Director explained that the Government had indicated the continuation of the BCF and that under current Government proposals, additional funding for adult social care was to come through the BCF by 2020. It was noted that some authorities had lost funding,  where due to financial pressures in the wider NHS system, other CCGs had had to reduce their investments in their local BCFs, but in Leicester, funding had been sustained and increased due to its success with the scheme.

·      A Member commented that lessons learned from the success of the BCF in Leicester should be applied to STP to ensure that it was as robust as possible. The Strategic Director confirmed that there would be shared learning. There would be a multi-disciplinary team, and the Director of Adult Social Care and Safeguarding and the Deputy Director of Strategy and Planning, Leicester City CCG,were part of a local structure to support integrated working and the development of the STP, so there would be an input at local level as to how STP would be delivered in the city.

·      The Chair expressed concerns about the delay that the local authority was experiencing in receiving the proposed future BCF money. At the request of the Chair, the Commission agreed to write a letter to the Government, requesting that such funding be released in a timely manner. The Chair added that she would ask the Deputy City Mayor (Adult Social Care, Health, Integration and Wellbeing), if he wished to participate in this.

AGREED:

1)    that the update be noted; and

2)    that a letter be sent to the Government requesting that money for the Better Care Fund, be released in a timely manner.