Social Care and Adult Services Scrutiny Panel 18 March 2008
SOCIAL CARE AND ADULT SERVICES SCRUTINY PANEL
A meeting of the Social Care and Adult Services Scrutiny Panel was held on 18 March 2008.
PRESENT: Councillor Rooney (Chair), Councillors Porley and Rostron
CO-OPTED MEMBER: E Briggs (Age Concern)
OFFICIALS: C Breheny and E Williamson.
ALSO IN ATTENDANCE BY INVITATION:
Phil Dyson (Head of Service for Older People and Physical Disabilities), Suzanne Hodge (Staying Put Agency) and Bren McGowan (Partnership Manager).
**APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Davison, Dunne and Purvis.
**DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest for this meeting.
**MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting of the Social Care and Adult Services Scrutiny Panel held on 26 February 2008 were taken as read and approved as a correct record.
SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY STRATEGY AND LOCAL AREA AGREEMENT – ADULT HEALTH AND WELL BEING
The views of the Panel were sought on the proposed content of the draft Adult Health and Wellbeing/Tackling Exclusion & Promoting Equality sub-sections of the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement (LAA) as outlined in Appendix A of the report submitted.
The Partnership Manager confirmed that the aim was for the Sustainable Community Strategy to set out the longer-term vision for the Town including high level priorities and the LAA to set out the shorter term (three year) targets, underpinned by local plans.
The process that was being used for the development of the LAA was also being applied to inform the development of the Sustainable Community Strategy. As both the first LAA and the 2005 Community Strategy were current documents, the process was being viewed as a ‘refresh’ rather than a wholesale rewrite.
LAAs had now become statutory and a new format was required with an emphasis on identifying up to 35 ‘designated’ improvement targets reflecting local priorities and 16 mandatory attainment targets (from the Department for Children, Schools and Families) selected from a total of 198 national indicators as set out in Appendix B of the report submitted. It was pointed out that although the Authority had to report on all 198 indicators there was an opportunity to develop additional local indicators.
Middlesbrough Health and Social Care Partnership (MHSCP) the health-theme group of the LSP had developed out of several years of joint working and investment planning with predominantly health and social care. It was noted, however, that in recent years the focus of the Partnership had broadened to encompass the wider public-health agenda. Such an agenda was outlined in a Joint Public Health Strategy between Middlesbrough PCT and Middlesbrough Council. Membership of the MHSCP was diverse and included key statutory agencies and relevant departments, the voluntary sector and local community representatives.
The report referred to several key strategic drivers such as Choosing Health (2004); NHS Plan (2000); National Service Frameworks for mental health, diabetes, coronary heart disease, older people and long-term conditions; Cancer Plan; Our Health, Our Care, Our Say (2005); and Public Service Agreement Targets (PSA) and the Local PSA. In determining the indicators regard was given to factors such as the level of priority; current performance; if improvement could be attained; if appropriate baseline information was available, avoiding duplication; and taking into account Government priorities.
The Panel’s attention was drawn to the following four key strategic health priority areas and national indicators which were the subject of ongoing detailed work prior to inclusion in the overall Sustainable Community Strategy and LAA 2008-2011: -
a) Help promote health, wellbeing, independence, inclusion and choice;
N1 124: People with a long-term condition supported to be independent and in control of their condition
b) Ensure that, when people fall ill, they get good-quality care and are made better faster;
c) Ensure that the gap is closed between levels of health of Middlesbrough residents and the national average, as well as the gap between priority neighbourhoods and the Middlesbrough average;
NI 8: Adult participation in sport
NI 123: 16 plus current smoking rate prevalence
NI 121: mortality rate from all circulatory diseases at ages under 75
d) Tackling exclusion and promoting equality;
NI 144: Offenders under probation supervision in employment at the end of their
order or licence
NI 146: Adults with learning disabilities in employment
NI 150: Adults in contact with secondary mental health services in employment.
The Panel commented that the information presented was incomplete and queried whether the LAA and Sustainable Community Strategy would be returned to the Panel prior to implementation. The Partnership Manager advised that the draft version would be updated following consultation and that the documentation would be returned to the Panel.
The Partnership Manager emphasised the need to include the experiences of the local community within the LAA and Sustainable Community Strategy, as this had been identified by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) as an area for improvement.
AGREED as follows: -
1. That the information provided be noted and the key strategic health priority areas be approved.
2. That taking into account the Panel’s comments as outlined further information be provided on the targets to be achieved on the relevant sub-sections of the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement.
MAJOR ADAPTATIONS – EVIDENCE GATHERING
The Scrutiny Support Officer presented a copy of the Lifetime Homes Lifetime Neighbourhoods document published by the Department of Communities and Local Government website on 25 February 2008. Chapter 6 of the document detailed the short-term improvements to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) including:
- increasing the national budget
- raising the maximum grant level
- improving the means test
- including access to garden
- relaxing the ring-fence around the DFG
- incorporation of Local Area Agreements
- levying limited property charges
A copy of the chapter was appended to the report for Members information.
AGREED that the information presented be noted.
WAITING TIMES FOR DFG’S
The Staying Put Agency had submitted a report to provide further information in relation to the following areas: -
- Initial steps taken
- Tender process
- Internal performance indicators
- Register of adapted properties
Initial steps taken
The Panel was advised that in 2007/08 the Staying Put Agency had received a significant boost in capital resources, which had led to a significant reduction in waiting times. In 2005/6 the average length of waiting time for major adaptations was 34.6 weeks. In 2007/8 this had reduced to 28.7 weeks. The Staying Put Agency advised that maintaining this level of improvement would prove challenging and that further work was required to identify what Middlesbrough could do in order to further improve performance.
The initial steps taken were outlined as follows: -
- A meeting had been arranged with CSCI on 10th April to clarify the data to be included within the indicator.
- Early conversations with CSCI had indicated that adaptations carried out by Erimus Housing could be included, therefore an initial meeting had been set up with Erimus Housing to look at what they recorded and how this data could be incorporated.
- Discussions had taken place with Building Control to explore the possibility of establishing a formal process for monitoring applications.
- The above process would be followed for planning applications, although a target time of 8 weeks was already in place.
Tender Process
The Panel was advised that currently under the Corporate Standing Orders Policy, the SPA was able to request only one estimate if the works cost less than £5199. However, by requesting only one quotation value for money could not be demonstrated, also there was no guarantee that the contractor would provide a quotation. The Panel was informed that SPA therefore requested three quotations for each job (excluding stairlifts), as this demonstrated value and competition and also secured a minimum of two estimates.
Level Access Shower Contract – work had been undertaken with Stockton Council on the development of a framework contract for the supply and installation of level access and over bath showers. The Middlesbrough element, however, was yet to be awarded as a local business had objected to the work being awarded to one contractor.
Ramp Contract – Stockton Council was currently in the process of developing a framework contract for the supply and installation of portable ramps and Middlesbrough was to be included in the contract.
A Member of the Panel queried whether the SPA was responsible for opening the tenders and it was confirmed that the administration support team performed this role.
Internal Performance Indicators
The Panel’s attention was drawn to the SPA’s initial proposals on how the delivery of adaptations could be improved in line with the Communities and Local Government ‘Delivering Adaptations: A Good Practice Guide.’ The Panel was informed that in order to achieve the targets, internal performance indicators would need to be established and these were attached at Appendix 1 of the report.
Register of Adapted Properties
In terms of maintaining a register of adapted properties the Panel was advised that the SPA had worked with local estate agents to develop a register of adapted properties in the private sector.
The Panel was informed that the SPA’s disabled persons re-housing service offered cash incentives to owner-occupiers to encourage them to move to adapted properties where appropriate. Although this scheme was due to come to an in end in March 2008 the ethos of the scheme would continue in line with the Government’s recently published guidance on DFGs.
A Member of the Panel made reference to work undertaken by Sheffield University to explore advances in approaches to improving the quality of life for older and disabled people through the better design and adaptation of their homes. The importance of building lifetime homes in order to reduce the need for expensive adaptations later in life was emphasised.
During the discussion that followed the following points were made: -
· The choice for an older or disabled person to remain in their home appeared to differ depending on whether the person was a tenant or owner-occupier. If Erimus Housing, for example, decided that the cost of the adaptation was not viable for the property then the person lost their choice to remain in the property. On the other hand an owner-occupier could qualify for a DFG and have their property adapted and then move to another property and apply for a second DFG.
· If Erimus’ figures were included in the performance data then on paper potentially it would appear that the service had improved, however, in reality service users would not have experienced any reduction in waiting times. The question was posed as to what was a reasonable length of time for service users to wait?
· The view was expressed that alternative ways of awarding the work should be explored rather than going out to tender on each occasion.
· The awarding of the stairlift contract had resulted in significant cost savings and faster response times. Technical officer visits had also been reduced from three visits per stairlift to one visit per stairlift.
· Obtaining proof of ownership for a property often proved problematic particularly if the property was purchased many years ago and was not registered with the land registry. Audit had been contacted and an agreement reached that the ‘I world printout’ and a utility bill would be accepted as proof of ownership. The point was made that further proof would be required if the authority was putting a charge on the property.
The Chair thanked the officers for the information presented.
AGREED as follows: -
1. That the information presented be noted.
2. That feedback from the meeting with CSCI on 10th April be presented to the Panel.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of the Social Care and Adult Services Scrutiny Panel was scheduled for Tuesday, 9 April 2008 at 3.00pm.
NOTED
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