Agenda item

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submits a report updating on the development and implementation of the Joint Social Care and Health Recognising, Valuing and Supporting Carers in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Carer Strategy – 2018 to 2021.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the report and provide any comments and feedback to the Strategic Director Social Care and Education.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education also submits a report with an overview of the actions being taken to support the manifesto pledge for supporting carers in Leicester.

The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission is recommended to note the current work that is being undertaken to support cares and provide comments and feedback on the current arrangements.

Members of the Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission have received an invitation to attend and participate in the joint consideration of the agenda item.

Members from Children, Young People and Schools Scrutiny Commission were asked to join Members at the table for consideration of the agenda item. Councillors Hunter and Pantling were present.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education submitted a report which provided an update on the development and implementation of the Joint Social Care and Health Recognising, Valuing and Supporting Carers in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Carer Strategy – 2018 to 2021. The Strategic Director also submitted a report with an overview of the actions being taken to support the manifesto pledge for supporting carers in Leicester. The Adult Social Care Scrutiny Commission was recommended to note the Strategy and report and provide any comments and feedback to the Strategic Director Social Care and Education.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor Social Care and Anti-Poverty introduced the Strategy which she said recognised the impact of caring in the city for families, and the wider benefits of supporting carers and recognising the role they undertook. It was further noted the Council alone would not be able to afford the support for people that the carers provided.

The Strategic Director Social Care and Education referenced that it was an LLR Strategy and it had been agreed to create a collective strategy as carers did not always live in the city and would provide consistency to carers across boundaries.

Bev White, Lead Commissioner, was present and provided the following additional information:

·         There was no statutory requirement for a strategy, but there had been one in place for a number of years that required a refresh.

·         The Vision at para 4.2 in the report was supported by a wide range of voluntary sector organisations.

·         The strategy was completed after a substantial amount of engagement, and young carers had a huge input into the strategy.

·         The strategy is owned by the LLR Carers Delivery group, and work was in progress to develop a strategic Carers Partnership Board which would include a carers reference group. The first meeting of the Board would take place in November.

·         It was acknowledged that there were different ways to support all carers, engaging with them face-to-face and virtually.

·         An implementation plan was being developed and a series of meetings would be held with young cares in October 2019, following which a further draft would be taken back to the implementation group.

·         More work needed to be done to engage with hidden carers (and identify them).

In response to Members’ questions, the following was noted:

·         During new commissioning of the service, officers were mindful of the fact that people did not know where to go for information and advice, and what was needed was a clearer pathway for people – a carers hub so that professionals would become familiar with referring people in, to try to channel people.

·         Members referenced ASCOF figures showed that during the last quarter the service was not making gains in supporting people and had spend changed. Members were informed that a better interpretation of the figures would be seen in the annual figures.

·         Funding as part of spending savings agenda had reduced voluntary sector funding by £700k.

·         People did not always recognise themselves as carers, and services needed to work together towards finding the individuals and finding a way to engage with them.

·         Different methods were used to engage with people during the consultation period, for example, through third-party organisations, group meetings such as the Carers Commission. The survey was also advertised as widely as possible, for example, Leicester Mercury. The Young Carers group run by Youth Services had not liked what was in the strategy. Suggested changes had been made and would be presented to the group in October.

·         Figures in Appendix 1, Adult Social Care Outcomes were queried. At 1D, 7.2 for 2016-17 what did the figure mean. At 3C it was noted the proportion of carers who reported they had been included or consulted in discussions about the person they care for had fallen to 68.5%. Members of the Commission believed the statistic was the one the Council could influence.

·         In reference to the carers allowance with a reported average of 35% unclaimed locally, it was suggested a target increase in this area in the city be considered. It was noted that every identified carer received a financial assessment and were supported to maximise take-up of what they were entitled to.

·         The NHS had been full partners in developing the strategy. In commissioning services a conversation was had with carers to find out about their circumstances to signpost them in the right direction to services and support. The NHS received commission-based information to help them care for the person. Individuals had to agree to pass on information to GPs as the commissioning service did not have access to patient level information.

·         The Council’s website had a portal for carers, which would be sent to Members of both Commissions for Adults and Children and Young People for when meeting with constituents.

·         For those people interested in being on the Carers Board, a weblink would be circulated to Members on who to contact as being part of the Board.

·         A carer-friendly community was needed to help support carers, raise more awareness of their needs, for example, flexible working practices. It was also important not to assume that family members were close to hand to support, as this was not always the case.

·         Community connectors had access to small amounts of funding to pilot tasks to engage with carers.

·         Third parties were brought in to interpret to communities when required. Adult Social Care were also fortunate have staff members across a wide range of languages.

Councillor Sangster left the meeting at this point.

·         When the Care Act 2014 came in it gave carers a statutory right to now be assessed in their own right for support, and/or direct them to services to relieve the carer of responsibility and allow them to have some respite.

Councillor Russell, Deputy City Mayor Social Care and Anti-Poverty informed the meeting the commissioning process would make sure there was a simpler for carers to access information. Officers were also looking at wider work around systems for sharing information, better promote voluntary sector services, and redevelop carers support on the website to provide a full list of support, including voluntary sector services, so they were no spending vital funding on publicity.

The Chair thanked officers, and Members of both Commissions for their contributions, and recommended that an update on progress and a more detailed report on targets when developed be brought back to a meeting in six months.

AGREED:

that:

1.    The Joint Social Care and Health, Recognising, Valuing and Supporting Carers in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Carer Strategy – 2018 to 2021 be noted.

2.    The Manifesto Update – Support for Carers be noted.

3.    An update on progress and a more detailed report on targets when developed be brought back to a meeting in six months.