Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel meeting held on 17 June 2014.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 17 June 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are requested to declare any disclosable pecuniary or affected interest, including the existence and nature of the Party Whip, in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an Affected Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

There were no declarations of interest or any indications that Members would be participating under the party whip.

Any other items which, pursuant to Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chairman decides are urgent.

There were no urgent items of business.

To receive submissions from members of the public which have been submitted in advance in accordance with the Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

No submissions had been made by members of the public under the Council's Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the QSR for the first quarter of 2014/15 (April to June 2014) relating to Adult Social Care and Housing.  An overview of the second quarter of 2014/15 will also be provided.

Please bring the previously circulated Quarterly Service Report to the meeting.The QSR is attached to this agenda if viewed online.

Panel members are asked to give advance notice to the Overview and Scrutiny Team of any questions relating to the QSR where possible.

The Panel received the Quarterly Service Report (QSR) for the first quarter of 2014/15 (April to June 2014) together with a presentation outlining the major service issues over the second quarter.

Following questions from the Panel on the presentation, the meeting was advised that:

·                     Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) had previously applied to adults in a care home or hospital setting who lacked the capacity to consent to their stay and whose care regime amounted to a deprivation of their liberty.  However a Supreme Court judgement in March had widened the definition of DoLS to include people who lived in their own homes and a considerably greater number of people in residential care, nursing homes and hospitals which could increase the number of applications thirtyfold.  No additional government funding had been provided at this point, but the resource implications for local authorities was going to be significant.

·                     Self-care was a term relating to individuals taking responsibility for their own health and well-being. It covered both prevention and management of conditions.

To consider the Adult Social Care Annual Report 2013/14.

Please bring the previously circulated Annual Report to the meeting. The report is attached to this agenda if viewed online.

The Panel considered the Local Account for Adult Social Care 2013/14.

In addition, three short videos had been produced highlighting particular priorities in order to make the report more accessible and to communicate key messages. The Panel watched two of these videos regarding Dementia Friendly Communities and Personalisation.  The videos were viewable on You-tube and on the Council’s intranet and website.

Following questions from the Panel on the Dementia Friendly Communities video, the meeting was advised that:

·                     All Bracknell retailers had been invited to the dementia awareness training but the take up had been disappointing.

·                     A decision on whether to repeat the training would be taken once an evaluation had been completed.

The Panel was advised that the Council's strategy was to support people in their own homes for as long as possible rather than providing more residential care.

The Panel endorsed the approach set out in the report and welcomed the steps being taken to improve communication.

To consider the attached Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board Annual Report 2013/14.

The Panel considered the Bracknell Forest Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board Annual Report 2013/14.  The report highlighted a number of key developments to further enhance the safety and wellbeing of adults at risk in the Borough and evidenced the engagement of a number of key partner agencies and the work of the Partnership as a whole in developing services and support that were both safe and met individual outcomes.

Although the number of safeguarding alerts had increased, the number substantiated had reduced and this indicated increased awareness.

The Panel noted that the Board had met 95% of its objectives during the year and that positive progress was continuing.

A briefing report in respect of changes to regulation and inspection of Adult Social Care from April 2015 is attached.

The Panel considered a report regarding changes to the regulation and inspection of Adult Social Care Registered Services.  The new standard regulations, the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, would come into force for all providers on 1 April 2015, subject to Parliamentary approval.

Following questions from the Panel on the presentation, the meeting was advised that:

·                     No notice was given of inspections.

·                     The duration of the inspection was dependent upon the size of the establishment.

·                     Completion of the questionnaire was estimated to take approximately 4-5 hours and there was additional work gathering information for the Care Quality Commission.

·                     The frequency of inspections would be linked to the rating; the lower the rating, the more frequent the inspections.

The Panel noted the report.

The report of the review of the Council’s role in regulated Adult Social Care Services undertaken by a working group of this Panel is attached for approval.

The Panel agreed and adopted the report of the review of the Council's role in regulated Adult Social Care services undertaken by its working group for sending formally to the relevant Executive Member, subject to the inclusion of a Foreword and some points of clarification.

The Chairman thanked the members of the Working Group and the supporting officers for their efforts.

To consider scheduled Executive Key and Non-Key Decisions relating to Adult Social Care and Housing.

The Panel noted scheduled Executive Key and Non-Key Decisions relating to Adult Social Care and Housing.

In response to questions from the Panel, Councillor Birch, Executive Member for Adult Services, Health and Housing, outlined the reasons for the proposed establishment of a Local Housing Company to provide temporary accommodation for homeless households.

The next meeting of the Adult Social Care and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Panel would be held on 20 January 2015 at 7.30pm.