Agenda item

Tom Sweetman, Innovations Manager and Richard Waring, Direct Payments Manager gave a powerpoint presentation in relation to progress made in respect of Personalisation in Rotherham.

The presentation drew specific attention to:-

• The story so far
• What’s it all about?
  • It’s about people
  • It’s about services
  • It’s about quality
  • It’s about partnerships

• Who benefits?
• It’s about vision
• What does it mean for Members?
• Key role for Members
• Where did the plan begin?
• Guiding Principles
• Positive Feedback
• Rotherham – National Praise
• The Plan
• Direct Payments
• Hot Off the Press
• The Way Ahead

A question and answer session ensued and the following issues were discussed:-

• How many more staff would be required to make personalisation viable and would it require additional budget?  It was confirmed that personalisation had been introduced to give a greater choice to customers but at no extra cost.  Therefore there would be no additional budget or staff required.
• A comment was made about relatives being employed under the direct payments scheme and it was queried whether this was a change in policy.  Confirmation was given that this would only be allowed in special circumstances and would be more the exception rather than the rule.
• It had been suggested in the presentation that personalisation would allow customers to live a more “normal” life.  A query was raised as to how this would be achieved in reality when most services were only available up to early evening.  It was confirmed that direct payments would allow a customer to employ a personal assistant who would work the hours to suit their needs.
• Concerns were raised that there were customers that preferred to use the more traditional services but would not be able to as a result of direct payments.  Assurance was given that this would not be the case, direct payments would allow customers a wider choice, which would include the more traditional services.
• A query was raised about the Social Care Reform Grant and what it had been used for.  The Director of Commissioning and Partnerships confirmed that it had been used in a variety of ways including, setting up direct payments, supporting services through re-commissioning, employing more social workers and setting up the many visioning days which had taken place.
• How other services could take up the personalisation agenda?  This would centre around demand for specific services such as transport and leisure services
• If services were tailored around the individual were there risks of
  • Not being able to benefit from economies of scale when commissioning services to get best value?
  • Services not being able to expand or forward plan because they had no long term contracts?

It was confirmed that personalisation was all about customers being able to choose the services they wanted and therefore services would have to change to accommodate this. 

·         A concern was raised as to how customers would be assisted with the legalities of employing staff ie personal assistants.  Confirmation was given that agencies were employed to assist with employment law and payroll services.

·         It was felt that personalisation was going to be an excellent way to overcome the existing problem of social isolation which old people often suffered from.

The Chair thanked Tom and Richard for their informative presentation.