Agenda and minutes

To consider the minutes of the previous meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 15 November 2023 and to approve them as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Resolved: - That the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board held on 15 November 2023 be approved as a true record.

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

Cllr Pitchley declared a non-registerable interest in relation to Minute 80 Aids and Adaptations Assistance Policy. A close family member had been referred for assessment.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

There were no questions from members of the public or press.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no exempt items.

To consider a report of the Assistant Chief Executive which provides a mid-year update on achievement towards the Social Value Policy outcomes and priorities for 2023.

Recommendations

That the social value mid-year report be received.

The Chair invited the Chief Executive to introduce the report. It was noted that OSMB had previously resolved to receive mid-year progress reports on Social Value activity, commitments and delivery. This report provided details of progress at mid-year 2023.

It was outlined that the aim of the Social Value policy was to maximise the local impact of the Council’s spend. Its focus was to secure Social Value as part of the letting of contracts along with securing payment of the real living wage (as set by the Living Wage Foundation). It also involved working with other public sector organisation and anchor institutions to support them in their development of a Social Value policy and delivery of commitments.

Key elements of the Social Value Policy, that informed the development of actions and delivery were:

·       Raising the living standards of Rotherham residents and commitment to working towards the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage.

·       Increasing the proportion of the Council’s expenditure, which went to local businesses and providers.

·       Building social value into all council contracts and maximising the impact gained from every pound spent, through the introduction of a rigorous system for assessing and measuring social value.

·       Committing to the principle of co-designing services wherever possible.

The priorities for 2023 were:

·       Focus on increasing social value commitments for skills and employment as part of overall progress (paras 2.6 – 2.20).

·       Further research to build local market intelligence (paras 2.21 – 2.34).

·       Supporting new and existing businesses to enter into new markets, from which the Council buys goods and services (para 2.47 – 2.49).

·       Continuing to embed the foundations of strong social value delivery through contract manager and supplier learning and development, tools, and evaluation (paras 2.50 – 2.52).

Details were given of the key performance indicators that the Council suppliers have delivered against on contracts procured and awarded between the implementation of the Social Value policy in December 2019 to May 2023. These included the number of people to benefit, training hours, tonnes of carbon saved and monetary values (and proxy values).

The total social and local economic value committed since the introduction of the Social Value policy showed significant increase from £13.6m (included in the last annual report to Cabinet in March), to £25.3m at the mid-year position (up to end of May 2023), a net increase of £11.8m or 87%. The total contract value attracting Social Value showed an increase from £106.86m in the annual report to £175.5m at mid-year, a net increase of £68.6m or 64%.

The report outlined that the use of Place, People and Corporate categories was procurement terminology to group similar types of expenditure:

·       Rotherham Places covered construction, facilities management, environment, and transport.

·       Rotherham People covered commissioned services for delivery to residents such as health and social care provision.

·       Rotherham Corporate covered contracts that support the operational running of the Council (i.e. ICT, temporary labour, training, PPE).

Of the three categories, “places” had seen increases from £6.5m to £15.3m; with “people” achieving £1.9m increase from £6.6m  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To consider a report of the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health outlining proposals for a new model for the Council’s Adult Social Care mental health provision across the Borough.

Recommendations

That Cabinet:

1.             Note the proposals for a new Adult Social Care mental health model of provision for the Borough.

2.             Approve the development of a co-designed Council Mental Health Strategy for Rotherham, with the strategy being presented back to Cabinet for approval in 2025, prior to publication.

The Chair invited the Strategic Director for Adult Care, Housing and Public Health and the Head of Safeguarding and Mental Health Services to introduce the report. It was noted that in February 2023, Cabinet approved a recommendation to review the Council’s Adult Social Care Mental Health model which included a period of consultation with people with lived experience, their families and carers. The review was delayed due to the impact of the pandemic on adult social care. If approved by Cabinet, a staff consultation exercise would be undertaken.

The proposals outlined in the report were intended to enhance the benefits of continued joint working between health and social care whilst defining and developing the social care offer to best effect. Research and evidence supported that such approaches provided the best opportunities for personalised support to maximise recovery and independence. A recent policy paper published by the Department of Health and Social Care in 2022 focussed on shared outcomes through partner collaboration and set out how person-centred care should be central to reform.

Working with other relevant local organisations, the Integrated Care Board (ICB) was responsible for planning and delivering joined up health and care services to improve the lives of people in their area. The proposed model recognised the importance of continued commitment to partnership working and identified collaborative, co-located approaches.

It was outlined that the demographics of the borough were a key consideration in developing the proposed model. It was noted that Rotherham was one of the 20% most deprived authorities in England which impacted on the prevalence of mental health related needs.

Based on the outcome from the consultation, and collaboration with partners during the review period, a new personalised mental health pathway had been designed. The pathway focused on the person and set out the core component of the model to deliver the statutory social care duties. These included:

·      A new information and guidance offer.

·      Early Solutions (the adult social care front door and enablement offer).

·      Care Act social care assessment.

·      Mental Health Act duties.

·       Crisis care and recovery.

The key change in the proposed model was an alignment of Council employed adult social care staff to deliver roles and responsibilities that met the requirements of the Care Act 2014, the Mental Health Act 1983, the Mental Health Capacity Act 2005, as well as associated statutory guidance and codes of practice.  It was proposed that this would better balance the clinical and social models to provide a collaborative model of delivery which would further strengthen co-location and integration. Details were provided in the report of how this would be achieved. It was noted that the proposed changes would provide evidence for the Care Quality Commission.

The Chair invited questions and comments from Board Members and a discussion on the following issues ensued:

·      The proposals outlined were welcomed. Clarification was sought about how people’s mental health needs would be triaged to ensure that they were referred to the most appropriate service. Details were provided on the assessment process  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

To receive a report of the Strategic Director for Adult Care, Housing and Public Health recommending the adoption of a new Aids and Adaptations Assistance Policy. The proposed Policy sets out how the Council intends to exercise its powers under the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) Order 2002 by consolidating the traditional assistance for aids and adaptations with a range of new discretionary grants.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.             Approve the adoption of the new Aids and Adaptations Assistance Policy (Appendix 1) and note the new scheme of delegation for authorising grants.

2.             Approve the proposed increase in Disabled Facilities Grant fees from 10% to 15% in order to pay for additional administrative and technical services costs associated with the new Policy and note that the Council is permitted to include necessary and reasonable fees associated with Disabled Facilities Grant applications within the overall cost of the eligible works.

3.             Delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Adult Care Housing and Public Health who can subdelegate to the Assistant Director of Housing in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing to prioritise or withdraw discretionary assistance in accordance with the Aids and Adaptations Assistance Policy and in line with the available budget.

4.             Delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Adult Care Housing and Public Health to make minor amendments to the Policy when the need is identified.

The Chair invited the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health to introduce the report. It was anticipated that the proposals would have a positive impact on the health and social care system. It provided a platform to access support and make significant changes, perhaps at speed, to enable people to have a higher quality of life.

It was outlined that aids and adaptations ranged from low-cost solutions such as grab rails to more complex and costly adaptations such as installation of level-access showers or in some instances, extensions. The Chair welcomed the Assistant Director of Housing and the Operational Manager - Housing Options to the meeting.

The current Aids and Adaptation Policy was adopted in April 2015. In July 2023, the Cabinet agreed to review the policy and put in place some temporary delegations to facilitate continued delivery of the service. The review took place between July and October 2023. In addition to considering the latest best practice, the review also compared access from residents living in different housing tenure, the most common types of adaptations needed and associated costs and budgets. Views and feedback from stakeholders, partners and service users were gathered.

Following the review’s conclusion, it was recommended that a new Aids and Adaptations Assistance Policy (attached as Appendix 1) be adopted, alongside revised financial delegations. The proposed policy set out how the Council intended to exercise its powers under the Regulatory Reform (Housing Assistance) Order 2002 by consolidating the traditional assistance for aids and adaptations with a range of new discretionary grants.

Legislation required all local authorities to have a published document in place setting out the Council’s policy on the local grant assistance related to aids and adaptations. The proposed policy therefore set out the types of assistance available to qualifying homeowners, Council tenants, private tenants and housing association tenants. The proposed policy supported disabled residents, older people, children and their families, with adaptations that supported independence whilst also enabling carers to continue to support residents safely. The policy included details of how to apply, eligibility and related conditions apply to the assistance available.

It was noted that funding for aids and adaptations was complex. For residents who are not council tenants, Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) were funded by the Government as part of the Better Care Fund. For council tenants, aids and adaptations were funded from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA).

The Council’s Housing and Social Care Services and the National Health Service (NHS) had responsibility for the delivery of integrated services and recognised the benefits of enabling people to stay in their homes wherever possible. The development of preventative services could help to avoid more costly interventions at a later stage. The review highlighted that the current policy did not fully reflect the principles of an integrated approach and could benefit from strong alignment with the better care priorities. The new policy included updated principles and objectives that reflected a collaborative, multi-agency approach to assess people especially in relation to high-cost  ...  view the full minutes text for item 80.

To consider the Board’s Work Programme.

Recommendations:

That OSMB

1.    Note the report.

2.    Review the work programmes (as detailed in Appendix 1) and determine if any further action or reprioritisation is required.

3.     Note the progress made in implementing the recommendations from scrutiny reviews (as detailed in Appendix 2) and determine if any further action is required.

The Chair put on record her thanks to Katherine Harclerode for her work in supporting Health Select Commission and Improving Places Select Commission. She wished her well in her future career.

The Senior Governance Adviser introduced a report which provided the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board (OSMB) with an update on the scrutiny work programme and the progress of implementing the agreed recommendations from scrutiny reviews (from May 2022 to the present day).

The 2023/24 work programmes for each of the Select Commissions and OSMB were agreed at the June/July cycle of meetings early in the municipal year. The work programmes were attached as Appendix 1.

Details were provided of the criteria endorsed by OSMB to prioritise its scrutiny work programming and reviews. It was noted that individual work programmes were submitted to each Commission or Board meeting for comment and amendment and remained dynamic and responsive to items which may arise (for example referral of petitions or actions arising from Council Motions).

It was noted that 19 scrutiny meetings had been held since the start of the municipal year with over 50 separate items being considered across the Commissions and OSMB. Additional fact-finding meetings, reviews and workshops had also been held.

Details of reviews and project work were outlined. It should be noted that due to diary commitments, resource capacity and other priorities being identified, it had not been possible to complete work on all projects/reviews within the projected timescales.  Members were asked to review programmed activity at this mid-point and prioritise work over the remaining municipal year as required.

It was outlined that all-out elections were to be held in May 2024, and to avoid ‘legacy’ reviews/issues being referred to new committees, scrutiny work should ideally be concluded in advance of the pre-election period being called.

Consideration was also given to the progress of implementing accepted scrutiny review recommendations, noting that a tracker had been developed to capture the following information:

•                Details of key information and dates (with hyperlinks to documents if hosted on the Council’s website),

•                What prompted the review (member request, call for action etc),

•                Evidence of progress,

•                Accountable directorate and/or external body

•                Link to Council Plan theme.

It was noted that the tracker was reported on a quarterly basis to the Senior Leadership Team in order that progress was maintained on the implementation of agreed action and any delays mitigated an early stage. It was noted that of the reviews reported to Council, the majority of recommendations were substantially complete or ongoing. To date, all scrutiny recommendations considered by Cabinet have been accepted.

Members were asked to review progress made in implementing the recommendations from scrutiny reviews (as detailed in appendix 2) and determine if any further action was required.

The Chair invited comments and questions from Board Members:

·      The Nature Recovery review was complete and was expected to report in early 2024.

·      Improving Places Select Commission wish to undertake a spotlight review on household waste recycling centres and asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.

The Chair referred to the previous item which provided an update on work-in-progress.

To review and identify items for pre-decision scrutiny from the Forward Plan of Key Decisions covering the period from 1 December 2023 to 29 February 2024.

The Board considered the Forward Plan of Key Decisions 1 December 2023 to 29 February 2024.

A request was made for the following items to be considered for pre-decision scrutiny by OSMB.

·       Local Plan Sites and Policies – Five Year Review (January)

·       Local Stop Smoking Services and Support Grant (February)

A briefing was requested on the following issue:

·       Overt CCTV Cameras

Resolved: - That the Forward Plan be noted.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held on Tuesday 16 January at 10.00am at Rotherham Town Hall.  PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF MEETING DAY

Resolved: - That the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held at 10am on Tuesday 16 January 2024 at Rotherham Town Hall.