Apologies were received from Councillor JG Lester.

None

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2016.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting held on 10th March be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To confirm future delivery arrangements for the young persons’ housing related support services contract (SHYPP).

The cabinet member health and wellbeing presented the report on Housing related support service - Supported Housing for Young person's project (SHYPP) contract.  She thanked the SHYPP supporters for the petition that had been submitted, and said that, whilst it was gratifying to see the concern for the homeless in the county, the work undertaken by the council had seen significant changes to the decision before cabinet.  The service would target assessed needs more effectively, whilst there would be a cut in low level general support.

The director for adults and wellbeing said that there was a close working relationship with the team at SHYPP and that there had been an active engagement process as part of the development of the options for the report.  SHYPP had accepted the direction of travel and the recommendations in the report were realisable and balanced.  A transition fund had been built in to ensure that the change in funding sources outlined in the report would be as smooth as possible. 

The contracts, quality and & review lead said that this was a non-statutory service and that SHYPP delivered both a floating support service where vulnerable young people received housing related support services, and accommodation based support, comprising three ‘foyers’ with a total of 31 service users, which provided integrated learning through safe and secure accommodation with housing related support and training.  The floating support currently delivered to 83 service users, of whom 7 service are 16 or 17 years old. Of the 83 individuals, 42 currently receive additional support from other agencies or council service areas, and 35 have been in receipt of the service for one month or less. 12 service users lived in housing association properties.

In response to questions from Cabinet Members, the following points were made:

·         That the current income from the council for SHYPP was £392,400 and the switch of income source would mean that in the next financial year equivalent income for SHYPP would be £310,000, including the proposed transition fund. There would be limited change in the quality of support offered to most service users as the majority of those currently using the floating support services would be transitioned into other existing commissioned services.

·         That there was no evidence of an increase numbers using the service, but that there was a regular turnover of service users, which was reflected in the numbers presented in the report.

·         That the vast majority of those using the service were young adults and were not care leavers.

·         That the homelessness team was addressing wider homelessness issues, should current providers like the West Mercia Housing decide to withdraw from the market.  The majority of service users did not currently live in housing stock provided by West Mercia Housing.  There was a lack of clarity as to how some users come into the service, and a review would look at how people were accessing SHYPP services and their level of need.  The council would then ensure that it would address the needs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 144.

To agree a 6 month extension, to 30^th September 2016, to the original S75 agreement between the Local Authority and the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

The director for adults and wellbeing presented the report on the proposal to agree a six month extension to the original section 75 agreement between the council and Herefordshire clinical commissioning group (HCCG), to 30 September 2016.   He said that this was a technical cabinet paper which did not change policy but maintained an existing financial arrangement with the HCCG.  There were two section 75 agreements, one was a legacy from the former Primary Care Trust, whilst the other had been put together to enable the HCCG to transfer funds to the council under the Better Care Fund (BCF) initiative. Both of these agreements expired at the end of the current financial year.  The intention was to merge them into one agreement, but this would not be possible to achieve by the end of March.  National guidelines for the BCF had been published two months late, and the plan would not be finally signed off until the end of June.

In reply to questions raised by cabinet members, the following points were made:

• That the Section 75 (S75) agreement was a straightforward legal document.  The BCF plan would need to be signed off through a national assurance process by the end of June, and that there should be three months thereafter to finalise the S75 agreement.

• That continuation of the current risk share agreement with the CCG would not be recommended to cabinet, nor was there any requirement for the council to enter into one.

Resolved:

That:

a)    the extension of the general section 75 agreement (at appendix one to this report) to 30 September 2016 be agreed;

b)    the section 75 agreement for the better care fund (at appendix two to this report) for the period 1 April 2016 to 30 September 2016 be agreed;

c)    the principle of developing a single section 75 agreement between the council and Herefordshire clinical commissioning group (from September 2016 onwards) be approved, which will be presented at a future cabinet be ratified; and;

d)    authority be delegated to the director for adults and wellbeing to finalise the council’s funding contribution and detail of the better care fund delivery plans, following approval by the health and wellbeing board.

To agree direct award in 2016/17 to Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) for school nursing and health visiting services to enable service redesign, tender and mobilisation following novation of contracts to the council.

The director for adults and wellbeing presented a report to agree a direct award in 2016/17 to the Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT) for school nursing and health visiting services to enable service redesign, tender and mobilisation following recent novation of contracts to the council. This was a consequence of the national transfer of responsibility for this service from the NHS to councils, as it had become a public health function instead of a clinical one.

In reply to questions raised by cabinet members, the following points were made:

·         The contract had been delayed, as work had been undertaken to review the needs of the people of Herefordshire for the services and to ensure that those currently commissioned were appropriate.

·         That the contract would be monitored through the council’s contract monitoring team. 

·         That schools did not pay for the school nursing service, but that it was open to schools and colleges to become involved with the procurement process in order to broaden the specifications for the service if they wanted to.

·         That mental health issues for children were being considered as part of the early year’s provision.  This was an area that had been identified as a national issue by a national task group for mental health.

·         That the range of community nurses not involved with schools were unaffected by this contract.

Resolved:

That:

a)    a contract for the health visiting service for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2016 to 31 March  2017 be directly awarded to the current provider, Wye Valley NHS Trust (WVT), at a value of £2,341,361 per annum;

b)    a contract for the school nursing service for a period of 12 months from 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017 be directly awarded to the current  provider, Wye Valley NHS Trust, with the council as an associate commissioner to the Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) contract as per existing arrangements, at a value of £513k per annum; and;

c)    by virtue of this decision report an exemption to paragraph 4.6.13.2 of the council’s contract procedure rules be approved.

To approve a shared service with Shropshire council for the provision of professional services, which include those of the director of public health. 

The director for adults and wellbeing presented a report on a shared service with Shropshire council for the provision of professional services, which would include those of the director of public health.

Since 1 April 2013 the council had been required to appoint an individual as the director of public health (DPH). Shropshire’s DPH had been seconded to the council on a part-time basis to perform this function from early 2015, devoting an average of two days a week to Herefordshire.  The secondment had been shown to be successful and it had become clear that there was scope for synergies to be secured in a number of areas of public health wider than simply the director role. It was appropriate that the arrangement should be formalised to reflect the sharing of a service, rather than the secondment of an individual.

Resolved: that the director for adults and wellbeing be authorised to take all necessary action to enter into a shared services agreement with Shropshire Council for a period of up to 4 years, at a value of £65k per year (up to £260k in total).