QUESTIONSTOCABINETMEMBERS

QuestionNumber / QuestionaskedbyCouncillor: / Subject
CABINET MEMBER FOR CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND LEARNING
Councillor Alisa Flemming
CQ362 / Hopley, Y / Respite Care
CABINET MEMBER FOR HOMES, REGENERATION AND PLANNING
Councillor Alison Butler
CQ353 / Brew, S / Selective Licensing

CQ362-16from Councillor Yvette Hopley

Councillor Louisa Woodley

Please could you let me have the costing for the contract you intend placing to carry out the consultation/co-production on respite care and let me know the time frame and list of consultees.

Is the intention still to close Heather Way in December which leaves a short framework for consultation?

Reply

Croydon Council is leading a transformation in social care services to enable people who use services and their carers to achieve ‘a life not a care plan’.

The Council wishes to establish the foundations for coproduction by starting to learn together with the community, what it takes to coproduce not just plans, but outcomes that are important to people too. This is therefore, much more than a consultation exercise.

A co-production partner (ThePublicOffice Ltd) was procured in October 2016 to support the council and its stakeholders in the wider transformation of adult social care services for people with a learning disability in Croydon. There is a wide scope for this work, including day, respite, housing, employment, well-being and quality of life opportunities for people with a learning disability in Croydon.

As part of Croydon Council's commitment to coproduction, ThePublicOffice are meeting people using day services, people in supported employment, young people aged 14-25, people participating in social opportunities, people using residential centres, in supported living, people using Shared Lives, people using personal budgets/Direct Payments, and people using Heatherway and other short break services.

They will also be talking to Mencap, Croydon People First, Parents in Partnership, CASSUP, the Head of the LD Partnership Board, Croydon Employment Services, Parent/Carers, the SEN Improvement Advisors, and colleges, Council members and staff.

Due to this wide scope of services involved it is not possible to disaggregate the time spent on, and the cost, relating to just Short Breaks/Respite. However the total cost for the whole co-production exercise will not exceed £70,000.

ThePublicOffice began this exercise of listening and engagement with groups at the heart of the change, in November. They will present their indicative findings and a ‘blue print’ for the way forward to stakeholders at the end of January based on what they have gathered during the co-production exercise.

Given the timescales above, the Council will be able to consider the ‘blue print’ from the co-production and the future of Heatherway respite service in January 2017. If the decision in January, is to close Heatherway and provide alternative opportunities for short breaks, a period of consultation would be required starting at the end of January 2017. The co-production exercise would not replace the requirement for formal consultation.

CQ353-16from Councillor Simon Brew

Councillor Alison Butler

In relation to the Selective Licensing of properties across Croydon during the year 01/10/2015 - 30/09/2016:

  1. How many draft licences have been issued?
  2. How many full licences have been issued?
  3. How many inspections have occurred?
  4. How much revenue has the Council received as fees?
  5. How much has the Council spent on administration of the service, including IT costs etc?
  6. How much has the Council spent on inspection of premises?
  7. How has the Council determined whether annual Gas Safety Certificates have been renewed?
  8. How many instances of anti-social behaviour (ASB) were related to the inhabitants of those properties subject to selective licensing, in each of the four quarters: Oct-Dec, Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep?
  9. What actions did the Council take in respect of ASB activity?
  10. What actions did landlords take in respect of ASB activity?
  11. How many licences have been withdrawn/cancelled as a result of unsatisfactory inspection results or ASB?
  12. What happened to tenants affected by licence withdrawal referenced in (11) above?
  13. What actions have been taken against landlords who were responsible for properties referenced in (8) above?
  14. How many complaints were received from tenants of licensed properties, and what was the nature of the complaints?
  15. How many complaints were upheld, and what action was taken against the landlords?
  16. What action was taken where complaints were not upheld?
  17. If new rental properties are brought onto the market and licensed under this scheme, when will their licences expire? Is it a fixed five year term?

Reply

1.18,514

2.16,320

3.1,679

4.£10,012,500 is the total income received, including the income received during the early bird discounted fee period which ran from 1 July to 30 September 2015.

5.£2,294,383 is the total amount spent on all aspects of the scheme to 30 September 2016, including initial set-up costs which were incurred prior to 1 October 2015.

6.We are not able to provide this level of detail.

7.Gas safe certificates are checked before the licence is issued and when the property is inspected and up to date certificates are requested if they have expired at those times. The date of expiry is entered on the system and requests for renewals will be sent each year and reminders sent if necessary.

Questions 8 – 10 – please refer to the closing paragraph

11. None

12. Not applicable

13. Not applicable

Questions 14 – 16 – please refer to the closing paragraph

17. All licences issued have an expiry date of 30 September 2020 as that is the end date of the scheme.

I’m sorry that I have not been able to provide answers to the level of detail requested, officers estimate that this would take over 50 hours to collate the responses given that the information is not recorded in an easily accessible form and therefore each individual case would need to be looked at.Myself and the head of service would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss the scheme and give more general information should you wish.