Agenda Item 4

THE RIVERSIDE GROUP LIMITED

RIVERSIDE CARE AND SUPPORT DIVISIONALBOARD

A meeting of the Board of Riverside Care and Support was held on 12 November 2015at 1.00pm at the offices of The Riverside Group Ltd (TRGL), 2 Estuary Boulevard, Liverpool, L24 8RF

Minutes

Present:Ms A Parker (Chair), Mr I Bennett, Mr M Bolton,Ms P Davis, Ms L Hearne, Ms C Lavender,Mr N Skinnerand Mr P White

In attendance wereMs J Beech (minutes),Ms V Dowling (Observer),

Ms L Foster, Mr J Glenton,Mr J Kent, Mr S Ketteridge, Mr C Symons (Part) and Ms L Turner.

Riverside Care and Support Team Leader, Christopher Symons presented an overview of Mike Jackson House which provides accommodation and support for homeless Veterans from the Armed Forces, ranging from those whose careers were cut short to people who left after decades of service.

Ian Bennett opened the meeting with a Thought of the Day.

Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Mr Bill McCarthy (Chair) due to ill health. The Board expressed their best wishes to Bill for a speedy recovery.

Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

15/46 / Minutes of the Last Meeting held on 23 July 2015
The minutes were approved and signed.
15/47 / Matters Arising from the Minutes
Matters Arising from the meeting of 23 July 2015 were:-
15/43 Any Other Business - Customer Death
The Executive Director of Care and Support, Léann Hearne updated the Board on the police investigation which followed the death of a customer who had been a resident in a property not managed by Riverside Care and Support, he had been referred to Riverside Care and Support to assist with tenancy sustainment. The Police confirmed that there was no action to be taken against Riverside Care and Support.
15/40 RECHG Audit Committee Verbal Update
Defibrillators in schemes and issues around training and insurance costs were discussed. Peter White offered to signpost Riverside Care and Support staff to the responsible person at the North West Ambulance Service to have a conversation on Cardiac Smart.
15/48 / Annual Appointment of Vice Chair
The Board noted that in accordance with the Terms of Reference for Riverside ECHG Division’s Board, the Vice-Chair of Riverside ECHG Division is appointed by Riverside ECHG Division's Board annually at its first meeting held after the TRGL Annual General Meeting.
Neill Skinner proposed that Anne Parker be re-appointed Vice Chair. Carol Lavender seconded the resolution which was declared carried.
15/49 / Executive Director Care and Support Update
Leann Hearne introduced the report and gave updates on the following:-
  1. No decision made from the government on the position of a rent exemption for supported housing. The Director of Policy and Communication, Hugh Owen along with trade bodies continued to lobby the Government.
  2. Following CQC’s draft proposal to effectively regulate supported housing, which would be a significant risk to all providers, a successful challenge to the proposed legislation was made. New regulations had been published which indicate Riverside Care and Support were not likely to have to register.
  3. CHT Board formally adopted Graham Earney as an Independent Board Member. As he was previously a nominee from Riverside Care and Support a vacancy had arisen for a further nominee. The Riverside Care and Support Board agreed that Mark Bolton would be nominated to the CHT Board as Mark had worked with CHT, is a committed Christian and is London based. Pauline Davis proposed and Ian Bennett seconded. Leann Hearne to complete the nomination via Group Remuneration Committee.
  4. Léann informed of recent partnership working. Riverside Care and Support and Manchester City Council had teamed up with former Manchester United footballer, Gary Neville, to help homeless people living in the former Stock Exchange building. Before building work for a new hotel starts in the New Year, Gary agreed to let the homeless people stay in the building. The agreement helped them access a range of services including mental health, drug and alcohol support, help find access to temporary accommodation, assistance with accessing benefits and help to find more settled accommodation.
  5. Pauline Davis attended the launch of the Riverside Care and Support name change which was formally launched on 4 November 2015 at King Georges in Westminster. Pauline expressed her thanks, for what she considered, was a fantastic event.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the content of the report.
15/50 / RECHG Financial Performance – 30 September 2015
The Finance Director, John Kent introduced the Financial Performance Report for Riverside Care and Support, for the period ending 30 September 2015. At the end of period six of the 2015/16 financial year, RECHG was reporting a total surplus of £606k against budget.
The following key financial themes were highlighted:-
  1. The Board were pleased with the improvement to the reporting format.
  2. The Head of Asset Management, Ian Gregg attended a recent Riverside Care and Support Executive Team meeting and discussed property sales. Steady pressure was to be kept on this part of the business and a watching eye kept by the Riverside Care and Support Executive Team.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the contents of the report.
15/51 / Business Growth and Strategy Report
The Director of Business Growth and Strategy, Simon Ketteridge introduced the report which summarised the activity and impact of the Business Growth and Strategy Team for the period July to November 2015 this included activity relating to:-
  • Contracts and Tendering
  • Supported Housing
  • Retirement Living
  • Health and Care
  • Marketing and Communications
The Board noted the improvement on the hit rate on tenders. However the news on the loss of both the Manchester and Wigan contracts was disappointing.
Future reports to include information about emerging trends affecting Riverside Care and Supports success and failure rates in tenders.
A summary of contracted income for 2015/16 was shown in the form of a table,which was provided by the Finance team,and illustrated contracted income changes reported by budget holders during forecast 2 (September – October).
Confirmation was given that the acquisition of Park View did not contribute towards the new business target. The loss of existing high value contracts could negate new business growth at a net margin of 1%.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the content of the report.
15/52 / Scheme Profitability
The Director of Finance, John Kent introduced the report which provided the analysis beneath the standard Group I&E format, analysed the 2015/16 budget by income stream within a scheme and comparing it to the standard scheme profitability percentage.
Comparing the scheme profitability margin against competitors such as Home Group, Family Mosaic, CareUK, it was considered by the Board that Riverside Care and Support were in a strong starting position.
Board members found the analysis particularly helpful, enabling informed decisions on retention and disposals.
The Riverside Care and Support Board welcomed the information as a leap forward in assisting decision making and proved to be a taster for discussion at the Away Event on 3 and 4 December 2015.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the report.
15/53 / Quality and Compliance Report
The Head of Performance and Compliance, Liz Turner introduced the report which updated Board members on the Quality and Compliance work undertaken since the last Board meeting held on 23 July 2015.
Particular attention was given to ISO 9001:2008 where recent ISO audits had been successful with non-conformities identified at any service or office, either minor or major. The Auditor was highly impressed with the systems and processes in operation at Mike Jackson house and singled the service out as fantastic.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the contents of the report.
15/54 / Actions from Star Survey Report
Liz Turner introduced the report which had been presented at the Board meeting on 23 July 2015.
406 comments were received on the survey, 154 were positive and related to the standard of service the customer had received from operational teams or how they felt safe in their home. The remaining 252 comments highlighted areas of concern to the customer.
The Director of Customer Service and Community Engagement, Anna Bishop had provided positive comments to the Group Board about Riverside Care and Support during her Star Survey presentation on 9 July 2015.
Under the budgeting constraints the organisation must ensure that the best quality services are delivered. It was felt an opportunity to re-energise staff as to what quality is about for customers should be made.
Communications to customers on the impacts of the cuts, changes and challenges needs to be managed. Some information has been shared via the Federation and at the recent Board Members Conference, however the wider audience need to be considered.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the content of the report.
15/55 / Operational Performance Report
The Director of Operations, John Glenton introduced the report which detailed the performance of Riverside Care and Support against agreed KPIs up to 30 September 2015. The following areas were highlighted:-
  1. Anne Parker, Care and Support’s representative on the Housing Services Committee, relayed the Housing Services Committee’s congratulations on the successful KPI performance figures particularly around Voids and First Visits. The team were commended on the hard work which had gone into improving the KPI’s, particularly the cash leakage items.
  1. Assurance was given that the Asset Management indicators would be green by year end, however further work was needed to obtain usable information on HR to help in utilizing staff turnover data.
  1. Confirmation was given on the absence of ASB data for Care and Support, due to it being dropped by the Housing Services Committee on the basis that Board’s would be alerted to it.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the contents of the report.
15/56 / Riverside Care and Support Audit Committee
The Chair of the Riverside Care and Support Audit Committee, Neill Skinner, highlighted key points from the meeting which had taken place earlier that day, as follows:-
  1. The Business Growth report gave the Audit Committee comfort in that particular area of the Care and Support business.
  2. A challenge for the Executive team was to monitor the testing of water tanks by Asset Management.
  3. Lone Working represented a theme throughout audit over the last few years, the Group were investigating new systems to help with monitoring.
The Riverside Care and Support Board noted the key points.
15/57 / RECHG Board Meeting Dates and Away Event for 2016
The Riverside Care and Support Board agreed the meeting dates and Away Event dates for 2016.
15/58 / Any Other Business
  1. Away Event
An outline of the event which was to be held on 4 and 5 December was given by Léann Hearne.
15/59 / Information Items
  1. Care Quality Commission Report
  2. RECHG Risk Map
The Board requested that time is taken to review the assessment of movement in risk and/or mitigation and revisit it’s understanding of the Risk Map and its use.
  1. Riverside Care and Support Business Trends Report
  2. Group Board Minutes of 11 June 2015
  3. Group Board Minutes of 9 July 2015
  4. Housing Services Committee Minutes of 16 July 2015
  5. Housing Services Committee Minutes of 1 October 2015
  6. Federation Committee Core Brief of 24 September 2015

15/60 / Date and Time of the Next meeting
The next meeting of the Riverside Care and Support Board was fixed for 25 February 2016 at 1.00pm at the offices of TRGL, 2 Estuary Boulevard, Liverpool, L24 8RF.

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