To seek the views of the adults and wellbeing scrutiny committee on the budget proposals for 2019/20 as they relate to the remit of the committee.

The draft budget for adults and communities was introduced by the Director Adults and Communities (DAC) and the Chief Finance Officer (CFO)

The DAC outlined the priority of the Adults and Communities directorate to establish a strengths based modelling approach to the provision of care services. The approach made an assessment of the need of clients of care services and sought to involve the local community and community-based organisations in the provision of care and support. The policy involved a reduction in cost but customer satisfaction with services had increased. It was explained that a number of existing care clients had been assessed under the old model of provision of care but were still in the system. A weakness in the previous framework and resulting assessments of care had caused a lack of autonomy for care clients and in some cases an over prescription of care packages. Targeted reviews were being undertaken to increase the level of independence to clients to ensure care packages were suitable to meet the level of need. The DAC provided details of the Community Development project to establish the support that existed in local communities and local initiatives which could be undertaken to enhance support.

During the debate the committee raised the comments outlined below:

·         It was queried what clients of care were required to provide for themselves before determining what would be included in a care plan. The DAC explained that the role of families was included in strength-based modelling and an assessment of community support. A holistic offer was made to the client including all suitable support within the local community; the role of the community broker was highlighted as an important feature of access to community support. It was explained that other local authorities were looking at the approach of the Council as a potential example for their provision of care services in the future.

·         The reviews of care packages were queried and the frequency of such reviews. The requirement for delicacy during reviews was highlighted in the communication of any reduction in the provision of care. The DAC confirmed that 80% of care plans were currently reviewed annually. The need for sensitivity during changes to care packages was acknowledged but it was important that over prescription in packages was addressed to avoid clients becoming dependent on a level of care that was not required. Under the strengths based model a reduction in the care package was mitigated by community support available.

·         In the event that a care package review resulted in an assessment of a requirement for an increase in the provision of care, the committee queried how reactive the service was to respond to this increase in need. The DAC acknowledged that an improvement to the speed of response was required which the Home First service sought to achieve.

·         The committee queried the number of self-funders for care and whether there was an increasing number that the Council would have to support financially as their level of assets decreased to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30