To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors ME Cooper, JG Jarvis, MD Lloyd-Hayes and Mr R Kelly, a Voluntary Sector representative.

To receive details of any Member nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee

Councillor GFM Dawe substituted for Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

Councillor AE Gray declared a personal interest as a provider of services for people with learning disabilities.  Councillor GA Powell declared a personal interest for item 7 as a tenant of Herefordshire Housing Ltd

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2011.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th January 2011 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To consider suggestions from members of the public on issues the Committee could scrutinise in the future.

None.

To advise the Committee of the financial position for the Adult Social Care and Strategic Housing revenue budgets for the period to 31^st January 2011. The report lists the variations against budget at this stage in the year and a projected outturn for the year.

The Committee noted a report on the financial position for the Adult Social Care and Strategic Housing revenue budgets for the period to 31st January 2011.

The Principal Accountant reported that the Agresso finance system would come on stream on the 1 April 2011.  The Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Hereford NHS Hospital Trust (HHT) had decided to delay implementation of the system.  A great deal of work had been undertaken in creating new cost centres ensuring that authorised signatories were in place.  The first payments would be made by the system on 11 April.  It was expected that the PCT would implement the system by July, whilst the HHT would have it in place by October 2011.  Some of the cost centres would be accommodated on the Council’s ledgers until the system was operational. 

She went on to say that the January forecast was for a net overspend of £3.81m, and against the target of £2m savings that had been budgeted, £1,543k had been delivered.  The remaining £474k would be delivered from a variety of different areas.    There would be an additional one off payment of Supporting People Grant income as a result of the underperformance of contracts, and funds would be transferred from the PCT.

She went on to say that there was an underspend of £50k in the Strategic Housing budget.  This was as a result both of vacant posts being held by private sector housing, and income from the Supporting People programme.

During the ensuing discussion, the following points were made:

• In reply to a question, the Principal Accountant said that the Council was looking at reducing the need for discretionary top-up payments to providers.  Discussions were ongoing with providers to achieve value for money and the

• In reply to a further question, the Interim Director of Adult Social Services said that the issue of patient discharge from the County Hospital was a complex matter, and all partners would need to work together to resolve any concerns.  The establishment of the Integrated Care Organisation would make a great deal of difference, as once there was one organisation responsible for care in the County, many of the existing barriers to change should change.  The emphasis on reablement care would also allow patients to have a greater choice as to where they want to live following discharge from the hospital.

• In reply to a question as to whether she felt that the budget situation going forward to the next financial year was fair, equitable and sustainable, the Interim Director said that there would be a great many difficulties to be overcome.  The demographic projection was for an ageing population growth for the County, with an increase of 2.5k people  with dementia by 2018. 

The Cabinet Member (Adult Social Care, Health and Wellbeing) thanked the Interim Director for her work within the Directorate.  She said that continuity within Adult Social Care in the Council after the elections on May 4 was important, and an integrated approach to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

To receive a report from Herefordshire Housing Ltd on plans for housing stock and services for those in sheltered housing.

(Councillor GA Powell declared a personal interest)

The Committee noted a report from Herefordshire Housing ltd on plans for housing stock and services for those in sheltered housing.

The Chairman stated that it was unacceptable that there was no representative available from Herefordshire Housing to address the Committee, and the report that had been provided was not adequate.  The Chief Executive would be asked to attend the next meeting with a fuller report that would include an account of the current provision to support elderly residents in Herefordshire Housing’s sheltered accommodation since the demise of the resident warden system.

RESOLVED:

THAT:

a)                  That the report be noted; and;

b)                  The Chief Executive of Herefordshire Housing be requested to attend the next meeting of the Committee.

To provide an updated report on progress in achieving national performance indicator targets and other local performance indicators in Adult Social Care within the Integrated Commissioning Directorate.

The Committee noted the updated report on progress in achieving national performance indicator targets and other local performance indicators in Adult Social Care within the Integrated Commissioning Directorate. 

The Interim Director of Adult Social Services reported that NI 135 (Carers receiving needs assessment or review and a specific service) continued to meet the target that had been set.

She went on to say that the number of safeguarding referrals had fallen to 167 from 198 in December 2010.  It was important that the Council used some of the available resources being transferred next year from the PCT to strengthen advice and support the quality of car provided for domiciliary care providers and nursing homes to improve. 

The Interim Director drew the Committee’s attention to Appendix 2 of the report, which provided an outline of the approach to personal budgets in Herefordshire.

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were made:

• In reply to a question, the Interim Director said that feedback that social workers were unclear as to what personalised budgets entailed was not unsurprising.  It was not possible to impose change of this nature.  It would take place when staff championed it and when users and carers were able to tell their stories.  This work was underway and significant progress will be made over the next twelve months.

• In reply to an issue raised by a Member about possible intimidation in nursing homes, the Interim Director said that the Council took great care to ensure that people in residential care were well supported.  A social worker would visit regularly, and there would be a framework contract in place in order to monitor the care that was being provided.  Hate crime was an issue under the purview of the Safeguarding Board, and she undertook to raise the matter at the next meeting of the Board.

• The Interim Director said that the integration of Frameworki and Agresso should be finalised by April 2011.A target of June had been set to ensure that the resource allocation system was in place.  There were over 2,200 historical records that would have to be put onto the system in order to ensure that the data was not lost, as it had to be kept for 75 years.  Thereafter there would be ongoing costs such as system upgrades, staff training and system maintenance.

RESOLVED

THAT:

(a)               progress in managing performance towards achieving targets be noted; and;

(b)       areas of concern should continue to be addressed

To consider the Executive’s response to the Scrutiny Review of Home Care in Herefordshire.

The Committee noted the Executive’s response to the Scrutiny Review of Home Care in Herefordshire.

RESOLVED:

THAT:

(a)              the report be agreed; and

(b)               the action plan should be monitored by the Committee for the next 12 months.

To inform the Committee of progress in implementing the Action Plan arising from the Scrutiny Review of Support to Carers in Herefordshire.

The Committee noted a progress report on the implementation of the Action Plan arising from the Scrutiny Review of Support to Carers in Herefordshire.

The Interim Director of Adult Social Care said the report provided a good focus for tackling commissioning intentions in the future.  There had been a reduction of £180k in Area Based Grant funding available for the support for carers, but it should be possible to make good the shortfall with the funds that would be transferred from the PCT to the Council.  This would allow the service to provide further investment to build upon work that had already been undertaken.  Resources would be directed towards direct support which is outcome focused.

RESOLVED: That the Committee note the progress made on the action plan to deliver the report’s Recommendations and Actions.

To consider the Committee’s Work Programme.

The Committee noted its Work Programme.

RESOLVED: That the work programme be approved and reported to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.