Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any interests in the items under consideration and in doing so state:

(1) the type of interest concerned; and

(2) the nature of the interest concerned

If any member requires advice on declarations of interests, they are advised to contact the Head of Democratic Governance in advance of the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on 26 January 2017 as a true and correct record.

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 January 2017 were signed by the Chairman as a true and correct record.

To consider any applications from members of the public to speak at the meeting.

The Committee noted that there were no applications for public speaking on this occasion.

The Committee to consider the Executive and Cabinet Member decisions within the remit of the Resilient Communities Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee considered and agreed to note the Executive and Cabinet Member decisions within the portfolio of the Cabinet Secretary, taken since the last meeting of the Committee.

To present performance against the Council Plan 2015-20 for the period 1 October – 31 December 2016.

Mrs Ruth Henshaw, Delivery Development Officer presented the performance against the Council Plan 2015/2020 for the period 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2016 and highlighted the key exceptions.

Mrs Henshaw reported that of the indicators where data was available, there were three indicators in which performance had deteriorated in Quarter 3 2016/2017:

•          Number of referrals / rate of referrals to social care per 10,000 children;

•          Number of looked after children / rate of looked after children per 10,000 population; and

•          Percentage of children who became subject to a child protection plan for a second or subsequent time.

Mrs Henshaw also drew the Committee’s attention to an additional exception report that had been provided for the new indicator of ‘Percentage of long-term service users and an annual review’.

The Committee noted that in relation to the ‘Number of referrals /rate of referrals to Social Care per 10,000 children’ that the Corporate Delivery Unit was now four weeks into a mapping exercise with Children’s Services, with the aim to determine were attention was required to be focused to deliver improvements. Members queried the level of progress of the mapping exercise and Councillor Cain advised that the review was progressing well, with front door services having already been considered and work being currently undertaken in relation to safeguarding children. He added that the whole of Children’s Services was currently under review as a means to prepare for and support the new Director of Children’s Services, who would be in post from late April 2017. Members requested that an update of the progress of the review be presented to the Committee at its next meeting as part of the Children’s Services Overview report.

The Committee noted the number of looked after children target of 443 and challenged how realistic the target was given that there were currently 520 looked after children. Councillor Cain advised that the current service review would consider the steps required to reduce the number and further work would be undertaken with partner agencies to ensure that there was consistency in dealing with potential looked after children. He added that whilst the target may seem hard to achieve, he considered it to be set at an appropriate level that could be achieved, noting it had been lower than the target 18 months ago.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

Background papers: None.

To inform the Committee of the work undertaken by Adult Services on a day to day basis in order to allow effective scrutiny of services.

Ms Smith, Director of Adult Services, presented the Adult Services Overview report to the Committee.

Members noted the high volume of calls to the Vitaline service and queried whether there were appropriate staffing levels to cope with the demand. Ms Smith reported that she considered there to be appropriate staffing levels and provided details shift patterns for workers throughout the night. Upon further questioning from Members, Ms Smith provided details regarding the different levels of service that were offered by Vitaline and of the steps that would be taken in the event of an emergency.

Members raised questions relating to the Phoenix Centre after noting the occupancy rate of 108% based on the service having four beds. Ms Smith advised that the service had capacity to escalate the service to six beds but that additional staff had to be placed on the rota in that event. She noted that the service usually operated between four and six beds.

The Committee noted the difficulties that Adult Social Care had endured with completing annual reviews across all teams and the steps being taken to address the situation. Ms Smith explained that additional staff had been recruited to address the backlog and that substantial progress was being made into completing the outstanding reviews. Upon further questioning, Ms Smith advised the Committee that the service still prioritised new assessments, in which the details of the case were unknown. She also explained that the review process had been streamlined as far as possible with elements being removed that were not considered strictly necessary. However, the Care Act determined the framework of what was required in a review.

Members enquired further regarding the details of what was considered as part of a review and Ms Smith advised that officers would consider what care package was currently in place for a client and its objectives, and whether there had there been any changes in the clients’ circumstances, including the involvement of family and friends. She advised that there was a lot of information considered in a review and that officers would always take into account the capacity and communication capabilities of the client.

The Committee noted the table of clients reviewed contained within the report and requested that for future reports a key be provided.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

Background papers: None.

To inform the Committee about the Care at Home services available in the Community in Blackpool and support a thematic discussion.

Mrs Raynor, Head of Commissioning, provided the Committee with an overview of the Care at Home services available to residents in Blackpool, noting that the term ‘Care at Home’ covered three distinct service areas:

•          Care at Home for Adults

•          Supported Living

•          Care at Home for Children

Mrs Raynor summarised the various methods by which care and support could be provided and informed Members of the national concerns relating to instability in the domiciliary care market and the difficulty experienced across the sector in attracting and retaining quality staff, due to low wages and lone working.

With regards to one of the contracted domiciliary care providers operating in Blackpool, it was noted that there was a correction to the information provided in the report in that Lifeways had been re-inspected by the Care Quality Commission and now had a rating of ‘Good’, following a report published in October 2016.

The Committee challenged the steps being taken to improve recruitment and retention of staff. Ms Smith advised that care providers in Blackpool, due to the limited amount of private work available, required the local authority to subsidise their ability to pay at least the National Living Wage and therefore every penny increase on the hourly rate would cost the Council £40,000. Ms Smith explained that there were frequent negotiations with providers relating to wages and that as a result of the Council having limited resources to invest further in care providers, an effort was made to consider other services that could be provided in kind, for example parking permits so that carers could park in residents’ parking areas outside of their client’s property. Ms Smith also noted that further work was being undertaken across the health and social care sectors in Blackpool to better market jobs as a career to be proud of and to advertise the benefits of living in the area.

In relation to the terms and conditions of care workers, Ms Smith advised that when contracting with care providers, a number of expected practices and behaviours to be established were proposed, including no zero hours contracts, all time at work being paid and in conditions relating to sick pay.

The Committee discussed the length of care visits and issues relating to care workers travelling between visits. It was reported that care visits of less than 30 minutes were no longer commissioned and that travelling time was paid in the hourly rate, so that visits were not rushed. Ms Smith advised that although Blackpool was a geographically small borough so travelling issues were not as significant as in some other larger local authority areas, work was being undertaken to consider a neighbourhood or zoned approach to provision to reduce travelling time further.

Members questioned how care visits were monitored, with it being noted that many visits would be to vulnerable individuals undertaken by one care worker. Ms Smith acknowledged that it was a risk area, especially as many clients were older people that did not like  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To inform the Committee about the Intermediate Care services available in the Community in Blackpool and support a thematic discussion.

The Committee considered the report on Intermediate Care Services.

Members noted that, with regards to the Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre, the length of stay had decreased from an average of 42 days per person prior to Aril 2016 to 29 days and yet the number of people using the service had increased. Members queried the impact of the reduction in length of stay and Ms Aldridge, Service Manager, Care and Support, advised that changes in the admission figures to the service could be in part attributed to going from two providers of residential rehabilitation service, to one. She reported that there had been an increase in admissions following a stay in hospital but a reduction in people being admitted from home, which was considered to be as a result of the impact of other services helping to keep people at home. Ms Aldridge also noted that there had consistently been vacancies at the Centre.

The Committee raised questions relating to the percentage of people discharged from the Assessment and Rehabilitation Centre still being at home when the 91 day follow up check was undertaken. Ms Aldridge reported that 74% of people discharged from the service were able to return home and of those 74%, 96% had still been at home when the follow up check had been undertaken 91 days later. She advised that those no longer still at home would be in long term residential care or would have died. Upon further questioning, Ms Aldridge advised that not all deaths would be unexpected as the service did help some people in poor states of health, with the aim of helping them to return home rather than go into residential care.

The Committee agreed to note the report.

Background papers: None.

To consider the Workplan, together with any suggestions that Members may wish to make for scrutiny review.

The Chairman presented the workplan to the Committee and highlighted the Implementation of Recommendations’ table.

The Committee agreed:

1.         To approve the Scrutiny Workplan.

2.         To note the ‘Implementation of Recommendations’ table.

To note the date and time of the next meeting of the Committee as Thursday, 27 April 2017, commencing at 6pm.

The Committee noted the date and time of the next meeting as Thursday, 27 April 2017 commencing at 6pm in Committee Room A, Town Hall, Blackpool.