To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2009.

RESOLVED:   That the Minutes of the meeting held on 26 November 2009 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Prior to consideration of the agenda, Cabinet received presentations on Herefordshire’s Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) results 2009 and on the outcome of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) assessment of the adult social care services which had been announced the previous week.

In relation to Herefordshire’s CAA results, the Corporate Policy and Research Manager highlighted to Cabinet key references from the first round of the new area and organisational assessments.  Herefordshire’s area assessment (which gauged how effective public services were in working together and with partners in other sectors to meet needs across the county):

·         acknowledged that the Council, NHS Herefordshire and partners had publicly provided  a ‘detailed and frank assessment of the county’ with ‘real efforts being made .. to improve the way organisations talk to people  and get their feedback’. 

·         acknowledged the close working between the Council and NHS Herefordshire,  and the associated improvements in services and better outcomes for people. 

·         did not give rise to any surprises because all the key issues had been identified in our self-evaluations and, where these had highlighted area for improvement, we had satisfied the inspectors that we were taking appropriate action to deal with them; this was why there were no red flags (areas of concern not being addressed).

·         did not award the county any green flags (awarded nationally for outstanding achievement from which other areas could learn)

·         but did highlight many positive areas in terms of what was being done or achieved, including in relation to health, crime, housing, the environment and the economy.

The Council’s organisational assessment was assessed as:

• performing well in Managing Performance (3 out of 4) (a significant improvement)with the Council having a good understanding of the needs of its citizens and sound plans to meet future challenges.
• performing adequately in its Use of Resources (2 out of 4).  The Commission acknowledged improvements in the Use of Resources, but the test  had been made much tougher  than in previous years; the assessment did, however, say that the overall value for money was provided and that robust decision-making processes were in place.

In taking these two previous areas of assessment together, the Council was deemed to be performing adequately overall, with the explanation that  the Commission would need to await the results of planned major improvements before a higher rating could be given.  The Commission’s summary was that the Council was on a springboard for improvement.

Compared with other local authorities in the region, Herefordshire Council:

• was one of six out of the 13 top-tier authorities to be rated 3 (performing well) for Managing Performance (the other authorities were rated 2);
• was one of the eight out of 13 to receive a rating of 2 (performing adequately) for Use of Resources (the other authorities were rated 3). 

In terms of the Area Assessment, whereas Herefordshire had received neither red nor green flags, three of the13 top-tier authorities in the region had received green and six red. 

In discussion Cabinet noted that whilst Children’s Services and Adult Social Care had improved it was acknowledged that improvement work was ongoing.  The work undertaken by Herefordshire Housing was acknowledged and it was noted that the Chairman would write to the Chairman of Herefordshire Housing in recognition of the improvement made in delivering services to citizens.  The role of scrutiny and its recommendations to Cabinet was noted.

The Associate Director of Integrated Commissioning (Acting DASS) drew Cabinet’s attention to the assessment of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care to the Council’s Adult Social Care (ASC) services.  The assessment:

·         Stated that ASC service was performing well.

·         Advised that of the outcomes measured, six were performing well with three noted as performing adequately. 

·         Highlighted the following issues as positive; the robust management of Putting People First and Safeguarding; the deep partnership with health and the potential to tackling issues collectively and the major improvement in market management and commissioning. 

·         Reflect a nervousness about the limited track record.  A self assessment to be carried out from May 2010 would provide an opportunity to evidence activity and build upon the existing solid foundations.

In referring to the current challenges to performance, the Cabinet was advised that; a safeguarding inspection could taken place anytime from April 2010; it was recognised that there were variances in the Care Homes market which needed to be addressed; funding was stretched.

In discussion Cabinet acknowledged that increasingly difficult decisions would be made in the future about service delivery and improvement due to limited available budget.  The importance of the hospitals, their use and effective bed management was emphasised.

Cabinet noted the content of both presentations.