Apologies were received from Councillor Harrington on behalf of the Independents for Herefordshire as he had been unable to find a substitute for Councillor Seldon.

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

There were no substitutes.

To receive any declarations of interests in respect of schedule 1, schedule 2 or other interests from members of the Committee in respect of items on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2021.

Resolved:   That the minutes of the meeting held on 1 November 2021 be approved as a correct record and be signed by the Chairperson.

To receive any written questions from members of the public.

No questions had been received from members of the public.

To receive any written questions from councillors.

No questions had been received from Councillors.

To seek the views of the Adults and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on the budget proposals for 2022/23 as they relate to the remit of the Committee.

The Chief Finance Officer introduced the report the purpose of which was to seek the views of the Adults and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee on the budget proposals for 2022/23 as they related to the remit of the Committee.

During the debate the following key points were raised:

·       Councillors were disappointed that there was not more detail within the report as this made it difficult to scrutinise effectively. Councillors asked that there be a more consistent approach to producing budget reports as comparisons were made with the Children and Young People Budget Scrutiny agenda pack which contained a more detailed breakdown of costs. The Chief Finance Officer highlighted that it was always a challenge to work out what level of detail to include but was happy to provide the Committee with further information.

·       The mitigation measures outlined on page 24 of the agenda pack had been acted upon and would be live from 1 April.

·       The paper outlining the proposals for all ages commissioning (birth to end of life) was being produced and would be circulated to Cabinet and made available for all other Members. Officers were absolutely confident that this was the right approach for the Council to take as there would be a negligible variance in costs but many more potential efficiencies that could be exploited.

·       The Independent Living Service (ILS) had been subject to an extensive internal review, heavily supported by Verto, to look at how a redesign of the service could improve outcomes. The long overdue but modest investment would pay dividends by increasing the productivity of DFG (Disabled Facilities Grant) assessments and targeting resources to reduce waiting times for customers who required those services.

·       The £718k of savings that had been identified would not result in cutting any services but was instead about better use and management of resources, more integrated and collaborative work with NHS partners, and use of Talk Community.

·       The projection graph shown on page 30 of the agenda pack highlighted that without the changes to the services that had been implemented, including triage and the Talk Community initiative, there would have been an additional 300 service recipients. These people were now being channelled through more appropriate routes and being cared for in a better way.

·       Councillors felt that despite them supporting the Talk Community initiative and the hubs that had been set up, residents were failing to engage with it and there needed to be better communication of the services that it could offer. This was especially so in view of the importance attached to utilising the service to better meet demand and ultimately reduce costs.

·       The Portfolio Holder for Health and the Director for Public Health were working with Talk Community and through the Health and Wellbeing Board to find ways to address such issues as fuel poverty and economic inactivity; this included a debt management service and working closely with HBOS and the voluntary sector to promote their schemes. This integrated way of working would help to reduce pressure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The next scheduled meeting is Monday 7 March 2022, 2.30 pm.

Monday 7 March 2022 at 2.30pm.