Agenda and minutes

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting held on 20th October 2008 be approved as a correct record subject to the inclusion of Councillor P Russell’s apologies.

Kim Curry, Director for Commissioning and Partnerships presented the submitted report which provided a final update on the implementation of Electronic Social Care Records in Adult Social Care Services.

The project was formally closed at the Project Board on 2nd October 2008 as the system was now being used by Social Workers and Occupational Therapists in fifteen teams.  The system went live in the first teams on 7 July 2008 following comprehensive training and on-site support programme during the summer which enabled the system to become embedded quickly and for the benefits to be realised from the start.

The ESCR system was already providing real benefits, both in terms of case file security and ease of access to information by staff, enabling more effective case working.  The project was delivered on budget but some delays were encountered which required a number of revisions to the project plan and the go live date.

Regular reviews of the new system were in place with a programme of development work to ensure that it met current and future business requirements.

Resolved:- That the Cabinet Member received the report.

Mark Joynes, Service Manager, Access presented the submitted report which provided an overview of all adult protection issues reported in Rotherham during 2007/08 and gave the opportunity to compare our safeguarding performance both historically and nationally.

This year with our partners, safeguarding processes had been strengthened to ensure that adult protection was embedded within the full range of universal services regardless of which agency provided them.

Together a number of significant improvements had been delivered within the past 12 months which included:

• The publication of a South Yorkshire wide safeguarding procedure in September 2007 and its subsequent launch at a series of events in November, December 2007 and January 2008
• The implementation of an agreed multi agency information sharing protocol and a serious case review process
• The appointment of a dedicated Case Conference Support Officer in March 2008
• Allocation of NHS Rotherham funding to support the Safeguarding Committee
• The appointment of a dedicated safeguarding adult’s officer within the Police service who engages in the multi agency investigative process.

Safeguarding processes were reviewed in 2007/08 using a self assessment against the CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspectorate) Key Lines of Enquiry.  As part of our commitment in our Service Plan2008/2011, strategic objective 7 which was “To strengthen our approach to safeguarding adults in a way which contributes to reducing cases of abuse and increases the perception of our service delivering personal dignity and respect by 2011, new actions were developed to improve experience and outcomes for customers.  These included:

• New service standards and a commitment had been put in place
• A poster campaign and a page on the Council’s website, had encouraged reporting
• A golden number was in place to access ‘Assessment Direct’, with a 24/7 hour reporting line
• The launch of ‘Every Contact Counts’ initiative driven by the Safer Rotherham Partnership (CDRP) would lead to a further rise in reports particularly from services with traditionally low referral rates such as housing
• The development of a quality assurance framework to improve standards in residential care so that we learn lessons from our own experience in 2007/08
• Raised the profile of safeguarding adults in the strategic partnership arena as a standard agenda item and through performance management arrangements for the Safer Rotherham Partnership.

In 2007/2008 there was an increase in safeguarding strategy meetings held which increased from 171 to 192.  There was also a significant increase the case conferences held from 28 to 51, resulting in 33 substantiated cases of abuse.  The highest category of victims was older people, with 64% of substantiated abuse last year being against Older People, 19% was against someone with a Learning Disability or Mental Health.  The highest category of abuse was that of physical abuse which made up 34% of all substantiated abuse.

As part of the continued commitment to safeguarding adults priority actions for 2008/2009 have been shaped by an analysis of the above and other statistics.  These had prompted an action to raise standards in residential care homes as 36% of alleged perpetrators  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Mark Scarrott, Service Accountant (Adult Services) presented the submitted report which provided a financial forecast for the Adult Services Department within the Neighbourhoods and Adult Services Directorate to the end of March 2009 based on actual income and expenditure to the end of September 2008.

The approved net revenue budget for Adult Services for 2008/09 was £68.5m which included the approved budget for demographic and existing budget pressures together with a number of efficiency savings identified thought the 2008/09 budget setting process. 

The budget monitoring report showed that there were budget pressures, with a projected net overspend of £168,000, to the year end, after factoring in a number of management actions to mitigate these pressures.

The latest year end projections showed there were the following budget pressures:-

• Direct Payments (£175k), within Physical and Sensory Disabilities and Mental Health services.  Performance was on track to exceed the target which if achieved would lever £360k in Local Area Agreement (LAA) reward grant funding for the Council in March 2009.
• Additional unforeseen placements into residential care for clients with Physical and Sensory Disabilities (£146k a net increase of 9 placements)
• Overspends within employees budgets (£210k) including increased use of in-house residential care bank staff and an overspend within domiciliary care management and administration teams over and above budget.
• Pressures had also been identified in respect of increased energy costs (£194k) within residential and day centres.  The increase in energy costs was being monitored across all directorates within the Council.

The above pressures were being reduced by additional income from continuing health care placements and delays in start up of supported living schemes within Learning Disability services (£550k).

Budget clinics with Service Directors and managers were continuing on a monthly basis to monitor financial performance against approved budget and to consider further options for managing expenditure within budget.

The Cabinet Member referred to the existing care homes which were to become surplus to requirements and suggested that further consideration was given to using these premises for housing learning and disability services.  The Director of Health and Wellbeing confirmed that a review was being undertaken of all day care services and a report would be brought to a future meeting for consideration.

Resolved:- That the latest financial projection against budget for the year based on actual income and expenditure to the end of September 2008 for Adult Services be noted.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 2 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 2 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

Shona McFarlane, Director of Health and Wellbeing presented the submitted report in respect of the review of Community Meals Provision.

The review considered a number of options for providing the service, and concluded that only three were suitable for consideration.  These were laid out in the body of the review report.  The option would also provide customers with a wider choice, better quality of food at a more reasonable cost, and a more flexible service.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received.

(2) That further consideration be given to the recommendations contained within the report in line with budget discussions.

Resolved:- That the next meeting be held on Monday 17 November 2008 commencing at 10.00 am.