Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor P. Russell declared a personal interest in Minute No. 4 (Future Delivery of Direct Payments).

Minutes of meetings held on 15^th April and 1^st May, 2013

Consideration was given to the minutes of meetings held on 15^th April and 1^st May, 2013.

Resolved:-  That the minutes of the meetings held on 15^th April and 1^st May, 2013, be approved as a correct record.

Minutes of meeting held on 8^th May, 2013

The minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 8^th May, 2013, were noted.

The Director of Adult Social Care submitted an options appraisal and proposals to reconfigure Teams that shared the same management structuring focussing on:-

-          A review of the Direct Payments function with a view to increasing current staff capacity and future proofing the function to meet Audit requirements, deal with increased levels of demand and ensure the effective recovery of overpayments to customers

The Chartered Institute of Finance and Accountancy Guidance stated that all new Direct Payments should be audited at 6 months and all Direct Payment users intending to employ their own staff were visited at the commencement of the Pay to ensure that the perspective employer was aware of their responsibilities and, where necessary, assist with payroll registration etc.  Currently 937 customers in receipt of a Direct Payment with a requirement of approximately 1,251 financial audits to be completed equating to 10.15 audits per week by the existing Team.  Based on analysis, the existing staffing resources were insufficient to meet the requirements and fulfil the additional duties also undertaken by the Team.

-          The need for a comprehensive review of Carers Corner to be commissioned in line with the agreed Carers Strategy.

-          Review of the Brokerage Team to reflect the fact that workloads were reducing due to a more personalised approach to meeting Service users care needs and evaluate more effective ways in which the function could be delivered

The Team had been established in 2007 in response to a Department of Health report.  It had been successful in freeing up the time of Assessment Officers by removing delays in provision and concentrating on the 1 task “provision”.  However, the Team was limited in its function and only arranged packages from services contracted to the Council.

Details of the financial implications associated with the proposals were set out in the report.

Discussion ensued on the report with the following issues raised/clarified:-

·           Consideration had been given to the proposals irrespective of the corporate budget situation

·           Disestablishment of posts and discussions regarding regrading/loss of posts

·           The review would include investigating the use/overpayment of Direct Payments

Resolved:-  (1)  That the Direct Payments Officer posts be increased from 2.8 full-time equivalent at Band F to 4 full-time equivalent on an interim basis to address current staffing deficits.

(2)  That the Brokerage Team be disestablished and the 3 Band D administrative staff be placed within the existing Assessment and Reviewing Teams resulting in a £31,006 saving against existing revenue budgets.

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs, indicated below, of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 (as amended March, 2006).

Resolved:-  That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in those paragraphs, indicated below, of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended March 2006).

(Exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Act – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)/information relating to any consultations or negotiations)

The Strategic Commissioning Manager and the Adult Safeguarding Manager, submitted the annual report on residential care activity for the period 1^st April, 2012 to 31^st March, 2013.

The report provided information on occupancy levels and quality monitoring outcomes for 2012/13 for services delivered by independent and in-house residential and nursing care homes.

The financial information and risks and uncertainties associated with this update were set out in detail as part of the report.

Discussion ensued and the following issues were raised/clarified:-

-          Work required to reinforce providers’ obligation to notify the Local Authority should they change their registration status and care category

-          Percentage of people being discharged from Intermediate Care to residential care remained low

-          Work underway on a Cost Recovery Protocol for implementation with any homes the Local Authority had to assist with safeguarding/quality  issues

-          Not all homes had signed up to Connect 2 Support

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

(2)   That work continues to identify a format through which the information outlined in the report submitted could be made publically available.

(3) That it be noted that the revised reporting arrangements to the Contracting for Care Forum would be in place to report on Quarter 1 activity in September, 2013. 

(Exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Act (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular individual (including the Council/information relating to any consultations or negotiations).

(Exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Act – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)/information relating to any consultations or negotiations)

The Strategic Commissioning Manager and the Adult Safeguarding Manager, submitted the annual report on Community and Home Care Service activity and quality for the period 1^st April, 2012 to 31^st March, 2013.

The report provided information on activity levels and quality monitoring outcomes for 2012/13 for services delivered by the Community and Home Care Services Framework which had commenced on 2^nd April, 2012.

The financial information and risks and uncertainties associated with this update were set out in detail as part of the report.

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

(2)   That work continues to identify a format through which the information outlined in the report submitted could be made publically available.

(3) That it be noted that the revised reporting arrangements to the Contracting for Care Forum would be in place to report on Quarter 1 activity in September, 2013. 

(Exempt under Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Act (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular individual (including the Council/information relating to any consultations or negotiations).

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council)

The Performance and Quality Manager reported on the outcome of an independent performance assessment for Adult Social Care in Rotherham.

The assessment, commissioned by ADASS (Association of Directors of Social Services) Yorkshire and Humberside, was carried out by a team of volunteer professionals from across the region between November, 2012 and January, 2013, based on publicly available national statistics for the period 2011/12.

The performance highlighted a number of strengths across all domains of the Adult Social Care Outcome Framework particularly for domains 1 (Quality of Life) and 3 (People have positive experience).  It also highlighted areas for further investigation.

The report set out the Directorate’s response to the findings of the reports and provided a position statement on current performance against the areas for further investigation.

Discussion ensued on the report with the following issues raised/clarified:-

-          Face-to-face contact at Riverside House

-          Review of the Carers Service would consider how it reached out to carers

-          The results of the satisfaction survey carried out between February-April, 2013, showed improved levels of satisfaction

-          Members for the 4 neighbouring local authorities to hold regular meetings

-          Diminished staffing resources/increasing statistical requirements

Resolved:-  (1)  That the findings of the performance assessment be noted.

(2)  That all Members of the Council be provided with the results of the satisfaction survey.

(Exempt under Paragraph 3 of the Act – information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the Council))

-        Monday, 24^th June, 2013 at 10.00 a.m.

Resolved:-  That a further meeting be held on Monday, 24^th June, commencing at 10.00 a.m.