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HEALTHY LIVING AND SOCIAL CARE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

 

Minutes of a meeting held on 4th December, 2017.

 

Present:  Councillor Ms. B.E. Brooks (Chairman); Councillor K.F. McCaffer (Vice-Chairman); Councillors Ms. J. Aviet, G.D.D. Carroll, Mrs. C. A. Cave, S. T. Edwards, K.P. Mahoney, Mrs. R. Nugent-Finn, L.O. Rowlands and N.C. Thomas.

 

Also present: Councillor G. Kemp (Cabinet Member for Social Care Health and Leisure).

 

 

499     MINUTES –

 

RECOMMENDED - T H A T the minutes of the meeting held on 6th November, 2017 be approved as a correct record.

 

 

500     DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST –

 

No declarations were received.

 

 

501     LEISURE MANAGEMENT CONTRACT – YEAR 5 REPORT (DEH) –

 

The Operational Manager – Leisure presented the report, the purpose of which was to provide an update on the performance of the Leisure Management Contract.

 

Committee would be aware that the Council's Leisure Management Contract was awarded to Parkwood Community Leisure and commenced on 1st August, 2012 for a period of ten years with the possibility of a further five year extension.  The award of the contract followed an extensive procurement process and set out to significantly reduce the revenue cost to the Council of its Leisure Centres operation.  The contract was subsequently sub-contracted to Legacy Leisure, a not for profit charitable organisation, in October 2014 that provided the opportunity for further savings to be made.

 

Attached at Appendix A to the report was the executive summary from the Year 5 Annual Report from Legacy Leisure.  Committee noted that the annual report followed the format of the monitoring checklist discussed previously, which highlighted parts of the contract and specification that Legacy Leisure was required to report on.  The information concentrated on the key requirements of the contract documentation and was broken down into four areas, Financial (protecting the investment), Property (protecting the asset), Leisure Service (protecting the customer) and Employment (protecting the workforce).  The team approach to monitoring had now also been fully established utilising specific officers within the finance, property and human resources departments, in addition to the leisure department.

 

The Annual Report highlighted a number of successes achieved during the year including utilisation of previously unused space in Penarth Leisure Centre, the relocation of the Hammer Strength Gym to Barry Leisure Centre, new spin room at Penarth, improvements to reception areas at various sites and gym extensions / redesigns at Cowbridge and Llantwit Major.  The development of a 5-a-side facility at Barry Sports Centre was licensed for a limited period to Legacy during August 2017 and therefore was not reported in this Annual Report.  In addition Legacy Leisure introduced an online lesson platform for swimming lessons that allowed a swimmer’s progress to be tracked.  Membership had increased and therefore usage.  Barry Leisure Centre was also entered for an energy efficiency award following significant improvements.  The extensive investment in staff training had also continued.

 

Significant developments were also planned for Year 6 of the contract.  In addition negotiations were also progressing on the possibility of activating the extension clause within the contract of a further five years beyond the initial ten year contract to provide greater security and certainty to both the Council and Legacy Leisure in developing the service.

 

A small working group had been formed from the Committee to periodically visit Vale of Glamorgan Leisure Centres.  The first visits were held recently and Members were shown around Barry and Penarth Leisure Centres.  Further visits would be planned to take place to other sites in the future.

 

Under the terms of the contract, Legacy Leisure was now paying the Council for the delivery of this service.

 

The Council's Capital Programme contained the following budgets for 2017/18 which would make improvements to the leisure centres:

 

Scheme

2017/18

Capital Budget

£

Barry and Penarth Leisure   Centre Upgrade Changing Rooms

1,682,000

Barry Leisure Centre Hall   Floor

200,000

Cowbridge Leisure Centre   Roofing

300,000

Cowbridge Leisure Centre   Electrical Works

216,000

Llantwit Leisure Centre   Electrical Works

242,000

 

Mr. R. Oaten and Ms. C. Tumelty representatives from Legacy Leisure were present to answer any queries raised by Members.

 

During consideration of the report, the following question and answer session subsequently took place.

 

Question

Response

Members raised concern in relation to the unused former health suite area at Barry Leisure Centre.  The maintenance room was being used as a “dumping ground” and Members, having visited the premises, were keen to ensure that the health and safety issues were addressed.

Although it was a non-public area, the representatives from Legacy Leisure agreed to   address the issue.

How was the 5-a-side football facility performing?

The facility started slowly in August 2017, but was to date picking up the company was working with local schools and it was currently looking promising.

Do you still engage with the GP referral system?

Yes, and this also have other advantages it can assist older people with loneliness issues by meeting other people on a regular basis.  The café culture has also assisted with this.

Electrical systems of the premises were long overdue.

Money in the Capital Programme had been put aside to address these concerns.

What’s the current position with regard to refurbishment of the changing rooms at Leisure Centres?

The Operational Manager advised that it was his belief that the changing rooms would be up and running by April 2019.  Work was scheduled to commence in April 2018.  There had been a slight delay but contact had been made with the Property Department to expedite the matter.

The Chairman took the opportunity to say that she would like to put on record her   disappointment as to how long it was taking for these works to be completed.

Reference was made to disabled changing facilities, with a Member referring to an incident where a child had to be changed on the floor of the toilet.

Mr. Oaten advised that he was amazed to learn of this situation and said they would look into this as a matter of urgency.  It was also recognised that there would be some additional changing   facilities as a result of the refurbishment to the changing rooms.

What are your views on the Health Centre moving next to the Penarth Leisure Centre and the skateboard park?

The representatives had no adverse views on the proposal and although the skateboard park outside the centre had provided some issues for the Leisure Centre, it was happy to assist the public where it could.

Football pitches – in view of the reduction in people playing football it was queried whether the Council was charging too much for the facilities?

Mr. Oaten advised that the price, to his knowledge, had not increased.

The referral room at Barry “The Squash Room” was reported as a cold room and uninviting   room.  The Chairman suggested that it would be more welcoming if it was made more attractive.

The representative advised that he would be happy to look into the matter and provide some décor to make it more welcoming.

 

In conclusion, the representatives from Legacy Leisure advised that should any Member wish to visit any of the Centres they would be more than welcome to do so and if they had any issues to raise to them with the Manager of each of the Centres.

 

It was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

(1)       T H A T the representatives from Legacy Leisure be thanked for their attendance at the meeting and that the performance of Legacy Leisure be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T a Year 6 Annual Report be presented to the Scrutiny Committee in Autumn 2018 and that this be included on the Committee’s work programme schedule.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

(1)       To note the performance in Year 5 of the Contract and to thank representatives for their attendance.

 

(2)       To enable the Committee to be regularly updated on the performance of the Leisure Management Contract.

 

 

502     INITIAL REVENUE BUDGET PROPOSALS 2018/19 (DSS) –

 

The Operational Manager for Accountancy, in presenting the report, advised that the initial revenue budget proposals for 2018/19 were submitted to the Committee for consideration together with the amended original budget for 2017/18 for services that formed part of the Committee’s remit.

 

The Council’s budget was determined largely by the Revenue Support Grant (RSG) settlement set by the Welsh Government (WG). The provisional RSG settlement was received from WG on 10th October, 2017.  The final settlement was likely to be received in December 2017.

 

Appendix 1 to the report set out the Amended Budget for 2017/18 for the Committee, together with the necessary adjustments to be made to the original budget.

 

The Council was required under statute to fix the level of Council Tax for 2018/19 by 11th March, 2018 and in order to do so, would have to agree a balanced revenue budget by the same date.  To be in a position to meet the statutory deadlines and the requirements for consultation set out in the Council’s Constitution, much of the work on quantifying the resource requirements of individual services needed to be carried out before the final RSG settlement was notified to the Council.

 

The forecast for Social Services at year end was a potential overspend of around £1m due to pressure on the Community Care budget.

 

Children and Young People Services – The major issue concerning this service was the pressure on the children’s placements budget given the complexities of the children currently being supported.  Work continued to ensure that children were placed in the most appropriate and cost effective placements.  However, it should be noted that due to the potential high cost of each placement, the outturn position could fluctuate with a change in the number of Looked After Children and / or the complexity of need.  This budget would be closely monitored during the year.

 

Adult Services – The major issue concerning this service was the continuing pressure relating to the Community Care Packages budget and it was currently projected that there could be an overspend this year of around £1m.  At this stage of the year, the outturn position was difficult to predict with any certainty.  This budget was extremely volatile and was under pressure from significant demographic growth, an increase in the complexity of cases, as well as pressure from care providers to increase fees as a result of the National Living Wage.  An increase of 1.5% above the 1% inflation provided in the budget would be paid to residential and nursing home providers.  Additional funding had recently been announced by WG through the Social Care Workforce Grant which totalled £30m across Wales and had provided additional funding of £704k to the Council.  This funding had been used to increase the fees paid to domiciliary care providers above the 1% provided within the budget.  This additional money from WG was not sufficient to fund any growth either in number or size of care packages, it was entirely used to meet the increasing costs of domiciliary care provided by the private sector.  The Community Care Packages budget would also need to achieve savings of £200k in the year.  The service however, continued to strive to manage growing demand.  It had an excellent track record in this area however this was becoming increasingly difficult to contain.  Further savings initiatives would be considered which may be funded via regional grants.  WG had continued to provide Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) grant to Cardiff and Vale University Health Board to allow collaborative working between Health and Cardiff and the Vale Councils however the level of grant funding was not guaranteed on an ongoing basis.

 

It was proposed that up to £1m be used this year from the Social Services Legislative Changes fund to cover the shortfall.  Cabinet would be provided with further details during the course of the year.

 

Leisure – There was currently an adverse variance to the profiled budget.  The main reason was due to high costs for vehicles during the summer season.  It was anticipated that this would reduce over the winter months and therefore it was currently projected that the overall budget would outturn on target.

 

Savings 2017/18

 

As part of the Final Revenue Budget Proposals for 2017/18, a savings target of £335k had been set for the Committee.  Attached at Appendix 2 to the report was a statement detailing each savings target with an update of progress.

 

With regard to the Social Services savings targets which related to the Care Package Budget reductions, while there was significant pressure on this budget and it was anticipated to overspend, schemes had been put in place to deliver savings in this area by transferring domiciliary care clients to direct payments and by establishing a review team and therefore the saving was projected to be achieved in full.

 

Medium Term Financial Plan

 

The Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2017/18 to 2020/21 was presented to Cabinet on 18th September, 2017 (minute no. C74).

 

It assumed a reduction in WG funding of 3% for the years 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21.  This resulted in the requirement to find savings of £20.941m over this period, with £9.326m currently having been identified.  There were therefore further savings to be identified of £11.615m over the three year period.

 

The latest Plan factored in a managed level of cost pressures, a notional increase in Council Tax of 2.6% each year, price inflation of 0.5% and annual pay awards of 1.6% each year from 2018/19.

 

Provisional Settlement 2018/19

 

The Council's provisional settlement was announced by WG on 10th October, 2017.

 

WG had advised the Council that its provisional Standard Spending Assessment (SSA) for 2018/19 was £221.296m.  SSA represented WG's view of the relative resources needed to provide a standard level of service in each Local Authority in Wales and its primary use was to allocate RSG to these Authorities.

 

2018/19 Initial Budget Proposals

 

As part of these initial proposals, it had been necessary to revisit the cost pressures facing services in order to build up a complete and up to date picture of the financial position and an updated list for the Committee was shown in
Appendix 3 to the report.  These were not shown in any order of priority.

 

Details of the proposed areas for savings for 2018/19 to 2019/20 for the Committee were attached at Appendix 4 to the report.  The savings did not include the cost of any potential redundancies.  Further work was ongoing to identify future projects that would realise savings for the Council.

 

A summary of the overall base budget for 2018/19 for the Committee was attached at Appendix 5 to the report. 

 

Further work would be undertaken by the Budget Working Group (BWG) in order to achieve a balanced budget for the final budget proposals for 2018/19.  This would include a review of the use of reserves, a possible increase in Council Tax, a review of all cost pressures, possible changes to the approved saving targets, a review of the inflation assumptions and the current financial strategies.

 

The BWG would consider the results of the budget engagement process in determining priorities for future savings and service delivery.

 

Appendix 6 to the report set out the actual reserves as at 31st March, 2017 for the Committee and showed the estimated reserves balance for each year up to 31st March, 2021.

 

Members raised concern regarding the level of cost pressures with some noting that a significant increase in Council Tax may be required to deal with the pressures.  Although there appeared to be significant reserves listed, the Operational Manager advised that if they were used, they could only be used for one off situations and could not be used year on year. 

 

In recognising that it was difficult to streamline further, Members asked whether further pressure should be placed on WG in view of the requirements under the Wellbeing Act.  The Cabinet Member, with permission to speak, advised that representations had already been made to WG and all Councils were facing similar pressures.  He stated that he had also been disappointed that there had been no further funding in the UK budget to help Welsh Councils.  Following a query as to whether the Health Board could be encouraged to assist the process, the Cabinet Member referred to the difficulties also being faced by the Health Board.

 

In recognising that a significant part of the overspend was around commissioning care it was noted that it was difficult for the department as it had  statutory responsibilities to assess and meet people’s needs, as not meeting their needs could have significant dire consequences.  The Director also advised that although savings were increasingly difficult to find, the department was committed to try to find as many savings as possible and would also look to considering new models of care where it would be safe and prudent to do so.  Good practice was also taken into account and the Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru offered support where possible.  Officers regularly engaged with other Local Authorities and providers and also utilised their own personal networks, in order to be innovative with their approaches.  The Vale had also been recognised for its innovative approach in a number of areas such as outcome based commissioning.

 

A Member queried whether there would be an opportunity for a number of organisations and professionals to have a wide debate on the subject in order to put forward suggestions, recognising there were considerable complex care cases involved.

 

Following the response to the Chairman’s question as to whether the savings identified were achievable, the Director advised that in his view they were achievable but it would be difficult, with Members accepting that there was a £1m overspend for Adult Services and the budget was extremely volatile. The budget was also under pressure from significant demographic growth and an increase in the complexity of cases as well as pressure from care providers to increase fees as a result of the National Living Wage.  Although understanding that the department was considering every aspect and that it had the Committee’s support, the Chairman felt that the significant complex cases and the issues facing the department needed to be raised throughout the Council in order that all Council Members could recognise the issues the department was facing, following which it was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

(1)       T H A T the amended revenue budget for 2017/18 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the comments of the Scrutiny Committee be referred to the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee highlighting the issues facing the Department in reference to the £1m overspend for Adult Services with the request that the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee consider the matter with a degree of urgency.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

(1)       To advise Committee of amendments to the 2017/18 budget.

 

(2)       To advise Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee as the lead Scrutiny Committee of the issues facing the Social Services Directorate in particular with regard to the £1m overspend on Adult Services forecast.

 

 

503     INITIAL CAPITAL PROGRAMME PROPOSALS 2018/19 (DSS) –

 

The Committee was informed of the current progress on the Capital Programme for 2017/18 and was requested to consider the initial capital proposals for 2018/19. 

 

Appendix 1 to the report detailed financial progress on the Capital Programme as at 30th September, 2017.

 

Appendix 2 to the report set out the Initial Proposals for the Capital Programme between 2018/19 and 2022/23 for the Committee.

 

New capital bids were invited for return by 30th September, 2017 and the number of bids received was in line with previous years since the five year Capital Programme was introduced (1 from Learning and Skills, 10 from Environment and Housing and 4 from Managing Director and Resources).  Departments were requested to rank and assess their own bids in order of importance before submission and bids from each Department were forwarded to the Insight Group for evaluation.

 

Only those schemes assessed as corporate priority 1 or higher and medium risk or higher were included in these proposals.  In addition the schemes put forward should contribute to at least three Wellbeing and Future Generations outcomes and should have a scheme priority factor of either A/B/Ci/Cii/Ciii.  The bids that did not meet these criteria were excluded from consideration as there was insufficient funding available and the bids relating to this Committee were detailed in Appendix 3 to the report with a reason for their exclusion. 

 

The bids that had been funded are set out below with the proposed funding profile:

 

Successful Bids

 

2018/19

 

2019/20

 

2020/21

 

2021/21

 

2022/23

 

Total

 

 £'000

 £'000

 £'000

 £'000

£'000

 £'000

Electrical Rewiring -   Barry & Penarth Leisure Centres

1,107

387

36

0

0

 

1,530

Community Centres

15

15

15

15

15

75

Total

1,122

402

51

15

15

1,605

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Operational Manager for Accountancy, in presenting the report, also advised that any recommendations from the Committee were to be put forward to the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee as part of the budget process.

 

A Member queried the allocation of £300k to St. Paul’s Church and was advised that the £233k that had been originally programmed in the budget was no longer required as officers were pursuing the new project proposals from Newydd Housing Association and further detail was awaited pending the outcome of the planning process. 

 

The Chairman, referring to Appendix 3, expressed disappointment in relation to the replacing playground schemes not being included in the Capital Programme and asked whether there was any potential for Section 106 funding.  The Cabinet Member advised that the department was currently looking into the issue of Section 106 funding, in particular for the Rhoose play area.  The Operational Manager for Leisure Services also advised that other funding opportunities e.g. grants were being considered. 

 

Following a query with regard to the Southway project, it was noted that this project was now complete.

 

Having considered the report, it was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

(1)       T H A T the changes to the 2017/18 Capital Programme be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T  the Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee be requested to ask Cabinet to reconsider the priority bids to include the not proposed replacement playgrounds schemes and that every opportunity and option be explored in order to resource such facilities.

 

(3)       T H A T the Scrutiny Committee receives a detailed update report in respect of the St. Paul’s Church scheme early in the New Year.

 

Reasons for recommendations

 

(1)       To ensure that Members are aware of the position with regard to the 2017/18 Capital Programme.

 

(2)       To seek Corporate Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee support in relation to funding allocations for playgrounds and play areas.

 

(3)       In order that the Scrutiny Committee can monitor progress in relation to the scheme for St. Paul’s Church.

 

 

504     TELECARE SERVICE UPDATE (DSS) –

 

The report provided Members with an update regarding the progress made over the past 12 months by the Vale of Glamorgan Council’s Telecare Service.

 

The Telecare Service supported individuals and their carers resident in the Vale of Glamorgan, to enhance their independence and to manage risks in their lives through technical solutions.


The service was made up of several distinct parts:


TeleV – a chargeable service which supported personal and environment safety and the management of low level risk, available to anyone living in the Vale of Glamorgan; the service was linked to the 24/7 monitoring centre at Contact One Vale.  In addition there were a number of individuals who were supported in their own homes with a similar service to TeleV from the legacy Vale Community Alarm Service (VCAS).


TeleV+ – a bespoke, specialised service to support individuals who had more complex needs to manage greater risks to their safety and independence; it may be part of a wider support package; charges were dependent on an individual's financial assessment.  This service may be linked to the 24/7 monitoring centre or alternatively may alert to a carer or carers.


All installation and maintenance for the TeleV and TeleV+ services was undertaken by an in-house team.


Housing Schemes – The majority of the Council's Housing Stock had an alarm service currently supported through the Telecare service.  This consisted of two elements, monitoring (through Contact One Vale's 24/7 monitoring centre) and maintenance (provided through an external contract or by the Council's Telecare team).

 

Staffing arrangements within the small Telecare team were still subject to ongoing review; however the team's resources had increased slightly over the past year to ensure that the Council had a resilient and effective team model fit for future delivery.

 

The team had undertaken a large amount of promotional work over the past 12 months, focusing on the TeleV service.  In particular building links with Health colleagues, particularly promoting the service in GP surgeries and in Hospitals had been prioritised.  Other areas of promotion had included libraries, leisure centres and supermarkets, through Third Sector organisations, Bro Radio and the use of the Council's Social Media accounts.  New promotional cards, posters and banners had been produced and the website pages for Telecare updated.  The promotion of an 'Installation free' period (utilising resources from an ICF bid with Cardiff), had successfully delivered a significant increase in take-up of the service. Collection of better data would continue to be investigated and utilised, to impact on the effectiveness of such promotional activities.

 

The number of people receiving TeleV had grown over the past 12 months to the end of October 2017, in particular the number of active users had grown from 742 to 843 over this period; 292 TeleV installations had been carried out in the 12 months to October 2017, compared to 235 for the same period the previous year.

 

The number of TeleV+ active users had also increased over the past 12 months, from 135 at the end of October 2016 to 158 users to the end of October 2017, although the number of TeleV+ installations over the past 12 months had dropped slightly – from 87 in the 12 months to the end of October 2016, to 84 in the 12 months to October 2017.  There had been a slight increase in the number of referrals received by the team in the last couple of months since work promoting the service with Social Services teams had begun, so the Council was hopeful that use of this service would increase further over the coming months.  The prospects for continued further growth in both services therefore appeared positive.

 

Following a query from a Member as to whether the uptake had increased when the offer of installation was free, in response the Director of Social Services advised that increased usage had been evident as a result.  It was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

(1)       T H A T the progress update in relation to the Telecare Service be noted.

 

(2)       T H A T the Scrutiny Committee continues to receive annual updates on the work of the service.

 

Reason for recommendations

 

(1&2)  To apprise Members of the progress made with regard to Telecare Services.

 

 

505     PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A REGIONAL SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT UNIT FOR VALE OF GLAMORGAN AND CARDIFF (REF) –

 

Cabinet had referred the report to the Scrutiny Committee for its consideration.  The report provided an update on the proposal to develop a regional Social Care Workforce Development Unit across the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff and sought approval from Cabinet to establish a regional Social Care Workforce Development Training Unit. 

 

The Directors of Social Services in both Councils had committed in principle to the establishment of a sustainable regional unit.  It was expected that this would rationalise existing resources to meet future levels of anticipated need for sector wide training and development consistent with the Social Services and Wellbeing Act (Wales) 2014 implementation.

 

Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Cabinets had received a report in January 2017 seeking authority for a full Business Case to be developed for a Regional Workforce Development Training Unit (WDTU) based on a fully integrated model.  The Cabinets also agreed for Cardiff to lead on the development of the Business Case.

 

It was the statutory responsibility of the Director of Social Services to maintain overall responsibility for not only Social Services workforce planning, training and professional development but that of the wider Social Care Sector (including Third Sector partners and independent and private providers).  As per the agreement of Cabinet at the meeting held 23rd January, 2017, Cardiff Social Services Directorate led on a business case on behalf of the Region.  The detail of the business case was attached at Appendix 1 to the report.

 

An Options Appraisal completed prior to the previous Cabinet report identified the following as the preferred option: 

  • Option 4 – The appointment of a Regional Training Manager hosted by one of the Local Authorities and the TUPE transfer of staff to the Host Local Authority so that all staff were employed by the same employer.  Following this a restructure to create one team that covered the whole of the region.

The Business Case attached at Appendix 1 to the report summarised the six options that were considered and highlighted the reason why Option 4 was identified as the preferred model.  The advantages of Option 4 were reported as: 

  • it provided the best opportunity to consistently meet needs in a fair and equitable way, standardising practice across the region whilst also being able to respond to difference when the need arose;
  • it offered a consistent approach to the sector irrespective of whether providers operated in Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan or both Local Authority areas.  It was therefore best placed to promote the intentions of the Partnership;
  • The model provided the opportunity for staff to work at scale, using their current specialisms as well as providing opportunities to develop new specialisms in response to future needs / demands.  It therefore made best use of capacity and maximised resources;
  • it provided an opportunity to streamline the available funding across the region, administering it from one pot which would reduce duplication of efforts – particularly as the funding applications had to be submitted on a regional basis.  This would enable the team to address current gaps by releasing capacity arising from the streamlining of processes that were currently administered separately in each Local Authority area.

Cardiff Council had completed the business case and consulted with and on behalf of the Vale of Glamorgan officers and stakeholders.  The business case, as drafted, to be progressed through Cardiff Council's internal processes.

 

In presenting the report, the Head of Adult Services advised that the proposed model provided more resilience within the service. 

 

Following a query as to whether there would be a clawing back of monies, the officer advised that the project was funded by way of a grant.  Following a further query as to whether there was compulsion on behalf of the provider to ensure that the staff completed the courses, in response the Head of Service advised that this was a contractual clause and that registration was the other part of the remit.

 

With regard to how many staff were involved in the process, Committee was informed that there were at least 600 staff within the department and that responses to date had been predominantly positive.  Although the scheme was funded by way of a grant this did not cover the full cost and 30% match funding was required from the Department.  The main objectives for the establishment of a Unit, the Head of Service advised, were resilience, continuity, to ensure regional partnership was effective and to meet legislative requirements.

 

Following consideration of the report, it was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED – T H A T the report be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

Having considered the contents contained therein.

 

 

506     ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES 2016-2017 – FINAL VERSION (REF) –

 

The Director of Social Services advised that as part of the Challenge Process, the Challenge Version of the report was being presented to Scrutiny Committee and referred to Cabinet to provide Elected Members with an opportunity to contribute their views.  This had been regarded as a key milestone in finalising the report because of the crucial role which the Committee had in providing consistent oversight and monitoring of Social Services.  It was noted that the Final Report would be made available via the Council’s website accompanied by a number of videos which would help illustrate the work of Social Services during 2016/17. 

 

The Final Version of the Report had been referred to the Scrutiny Committee for consideration by Cabinet at its meeting on 6th November, 2017, it being noted that this year the format had changed as part of a transition to a new format required by Welsh Government through regulations from 2017/18.  The Directorate had also utilised this transition year to bring the new Director’s Report into close alignment with the Council’s corporate and service planning mechanisms. 

 

In recognising that the report attached at Appendix 1 had been before the Scrutiny Committee previously for consideration, it was subsequently

 

RECOMMENDED –

 

(1)       T H A T the Director of Social Services’ Annual Report for 2016-2017 be endorsed.

 

(2)       T H A T the improvement priorities for Social Services as set out in the Director’s Annual Report for 2016-2017 be endorsed.

 

Reason for recommendations

 

(1&2)  In noting the contents contained therein.

 

 

507     NATIONAL COLLABORATIVE COMMISSIONING: INTEGRATED HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PROGRAMME – ANNUAL REPORT (REF) –

 

At its meeting on 20th November, 2017, Cabinet had been updated on the ongoing development of the National Collaborative Commissioning Integrated Health and Social Care Programme and the Integrated Health and Social Care Commissioning Programme, which had been awarded Welsh Government “Invest to Save” funding.  The report had subsequently been referred to the Scrutiny Committee for consideration and by way of background the Head of Service advised that the Integrated Health and Social Care Commissioning Programme Board was established in September 2015.  It commenced a procurement process for a

“Collaborative National Framework for Younger Adults (18-64 years) in Mental Health and Learning Disability Care Homes and Care Homes with Nursing”.

 

All 22 Welsh Local Authorities had confirmed approval to be named on the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) notice with all seven Health Boards early in 2016.  Therefore, the Council could utilise the CCAPS Framework should it choose to do so, but as a Local Authority the Council was not mandated to do so.

 

To date, the Vale of Glamorgan had not placed anyone via the Framework, and this was echoed across all Welsh Local Authorities with no placements being made via CCAPS by any Local Authority.  CCAPS had reported that there had been 28 placements via NHS organisations in the year since the service was launched.

 

Officers within the Social Services Directorate had actively engaged in all events and meetings in relation to the Programme and the former Head of Resources Management and Safeguarding had also represented the Region at meetings of the Programme Board.  The Council was one of only 14 Local Authorities who had signed up to gain access to the CCAPS database and attended training to ensure it could use the system if deemed appropriate.

 

The Council had worked regionally with its partners, Cardiff Council and Cardiff and Vale UHB regarding this programme it being agreed by all partners that they would operate collectively regarding their decision to use the Framework, or not, subject to the necessary approvals.  There were reported to be fewer providers on the Framework since the last refresh exercise than there had been originally, and it was noted that a further “refresh” exercise, where the national team encouraged providers to apply to go on the Framework, was planned for November, with successful organisations to be active on the Framework from April, 2018.

 

Having presented the report, the Head of Service however advised the Committee that there had been no occasion where the Department had found, through research, it cheaper to place someone via the Framework, but that any further developments would be reported to the Committee in due course. 

 

RECOMMENDED – T H A T the report be noted.

 

Reason for recommendation

 

In acknowledging the research undertaken and the contents contained therein.