Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Easthampstead House, Town Square, Bracknell, RG12 1AQ

Contact: Derek Morgan  01344 352044

Items
No. Item

37.

Minutes and Matters Arising pdf icon PDF 157 KB

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 January 2017.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on 17 January 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

38.

Declarations of Interest and Party Whip

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.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest relating to any items on the agenda, nor any indication that members would be participating whilst under the party whip.

39.

Urgent Items of Business

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

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

40.

Public Participation

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.

Minutes:

There were no submissions from members of the public in accordance with the

Council’s Public Participation Scheme for Overview and Scrutiny.

41.

Quarterly Service Report (QSR) pdf icon PDF 753 KB

To consider the latest trends, priorities and pressures in terms of departmental performance as reported in the QSR for the third quarter of 2016/17 (October to December 2016) relating to Adult Social Care and Housing.  An overview of the fourth quarter of 2016/17 will also be provided.

 

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

Minutes:

The Chief Officer: Commissioning and Resources introduced a presentation to the Panel which highlighted the excellent performance and the challenges relating to Adult Social Care and Housing.

 

  • The Panel noted the results of the annual Adult Social Care Survey for 2015/16.  In relation to Satisfaction with Care and Support Bracknell Forest received the best feedback of all Local Authorities in its comparative group and was the fifth highest out of all 159 English Authorities.  The Panel noted the continuing improved performance in this area over the last two years.
  • The 2014/15 Adult Social Care Survey showed that Bracknell Forest came top in its comparative group in relation to Carers Satisfaction with Social Services and twelfth highest out of all 159 English Authorities.
  • In relation to Adults with Learning Disabilities in Employment, Bracknell Forest had 17.7% of its cohort in employment which equated to 46 individuals.  This compared to an average of 8.1% in the South East region, 6.7% in England and maintained Bracknell Forest’s position as the highest out of all 159 English Authorities.
  • The Panel noted thatEast Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group had commissioned Bracknell Forest Community Team for People with a Learning Disability to support individual’s health care needs by way of a Personal Health Budget and that 37 people now received their care and support in this way.
  • Excellent feedback had been received in relation to Welfare and Housing customer satisfaction with services.  215 face to face surveys had been completed since March 2016 and showed 68% scored 10/10, 24% scored 9/10 and 8% scored 8 and below. 
  • In relation to Forestcare customer satisfaction, 100% of customers were satisfied with the service, 92% thought it was value for money and 91% were happy with the response provided in an emergency
  • Since October 2016, Housing had met all emergency accommodation needs for homeless families within Bracknell Forest, avoiding the disruption and additional costs of placements outside the borough.

 

Adult Social Care Challenges

 

  • Permanent admission to residential and nursing homes 65+ (per 100,000 population) 2015/16: The Panel noted that in this area Bracknell Forest was approximately in the middle of the table for all English Authorities but the Amber rating provoked a slight concern and the figure of 611 was higher than the previous year.
  • Delayed Transfers of Care attributable to adult social care (per 100,000 population) 2015/16: The score of 2.2 was approximately in the middle of the table for Authorities in the South East region and the Panel was advised this outcome was attributable to the inability of domiciliary care providers to recruit and therefore offer packages of care.

 

Housing Challenges

 

  • In relation to maintaining a supply of accommodation for homeless households, the Panel was advised that Downshire Homes was in the market to purchase properties and currently had offers accepted on 8 properties intended for the sole use of homeless accommodation.
  • The Panel were advised that Forestcare would now be inspected by CQC and in advance of their first visit by the Care Quality Commission  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

42.

Charging Options for Care and Support at Home pdf icon PDF 83 KB

To consider possible options for charging for care and support at home.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Panel was invited to consider a report on the Charging Options for Care and Support at Home and to express any views on the options for charging for forwarding to the Executive as part of the associated consultation.  A summary of the discussion included:

 

  • Highlighted from the report was that the Care Act 2014 stated there were a number of benefits that may be fully taken into account when considering what a person could afford to pay towards their care from income, which the Council currently did not take into account, including higher rate Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance (Care component) and Personal Independence Payment (Daily Living component). The Care Act had stipulated that no-one should be made worse off by the reforms, but changing policy to be in line with the Care Act would have a negative impact on people’s finances.
  • A table in the report demonstrated that the average potential impact for those that were negatively impacted was £25 per week, with the most worse off to the tune of £27.20 per week. The potential reduction in the net cost of funding support for people via these changes could be £230,000 in a full year once fully implemented.
  • The Panel was advised that Bracknell Forest would not take into account a person’s night time support benefit during the financial assessment process as it would encourage people to take up the new Forestcare Responder service, or alternative services sourced from other providers,  as it was likely to help them maintain their independence for longer and prevent inpatient care. 
  • The Forestcare emergency support team would endeavour to attend a call out across the Berkshire area within 45 minutes of being contacted.  However, as the response team was located in Bracknell, the response time in the local area was likely to be quicker and compared favourably with ambulance response which could sometimes be up to 3-4 hours.

 

The Panel endorsed the recommendations made in the report:

43.

Domiciliary Support Service Procurement Plan

A briefing in respect of the Domiciliary Support Service Procurement Plan will be provided.

Minutes:

The Panel were advised that 9 tenders had been received for the Domiciliary Support Service and a paper would be brought to the Executive to make a contract award decision.  It had been pleasing to note that some forward-looking providers had expressed their intent to work with people to help increase their independence and reduce reliance on paid support.

 

The Panel were advised that an electronic system would be implemented whereby individuals could offer feedback on the care provided.  Work was being undertaken with a supplier to devise a digital platform for this purpose which would also include care provider ratings. 

44.

Working Group Update Report pdf icon PDF 281 KB

To receive an update in respect of the Working Group of the Panel reviewing the Housing Strategy and an aspect of housing flowing from it.

Minutes:

The Panel received a report which summarised the progress achieved to date by the Working Group of the Panel reviewing the Council’s draft Housing Strategy and Housing Supply.

 

The Working Group had met on three occasions since November 2016 but due to the shortage of overview & scrutiny officer resources, no further meetings had been arranged, which may put at risk the aim to complete the review by July 2017.  As the Working Group had experienced difficulties in agreeing the scope of its review, the involvement of the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Commission was sought to assist with resolving the issue and the Executive Member offered to liaise with that Chairman to progress the matter.  

45.

Executive Key and Non-Key Decisions pdf icon PDF 108 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

46.

Exclusion of Public and Press

To consider the following motion:

 

That pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following item which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of that Act:

 

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (Item 12).

Minutes:

RESOLVED that pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended, and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following item which involves the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of that Act:

 

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.

47.

Options for Joint Commissioning of Elderly Mentally Infirm Care Home Beds

To consider development options for the provision of new care home beds in the Borough.

Minutes:

The Chief Officer: Commissioning and Resources presented a report on the options for Joint Commissioning of Elderly Mentally Infirm (EMI) Care Home Beds in Bracknell Forest. 

 

The report provided a recap of the re-commissioning of the provision of care of the residential care home and day centre at Heathlands and the reasons behind its subsequent closure.  Since that time, a number of private care homes in the local area had gone out of business which had further reduced the supply of care home places in the area, and led to a significant increase in prices.  The Panel were advised that a restrictive covenant on the land at Heathlands meant the site must always be used for care.  Consequently, the Council had commissioned a feasibility study into what could be developed on the site.  This confirmed that a 64 bed residential unit and 14 units of specialist housing – for older people and people with a learning disability – could be developed with enough flexibility in the plans to allow for an extra 6 units of specialist housing. 

 

The Panel noted that across East Berkshire, for both the other local authorities and the clinical commissioning groups, there were currently supply issues with care homes which had a considerable impact on prices. In determining the best option for the future of the Heathlands site, collaboration with these neighbouring partners was being undertaken in order to spread the risk of building and operating a new establishment and reduce the initial capital outlay.  This approach underpinned the Local Plan which had an emphasis on ensuring planning policies were in place which supported the development of much needed residential care by joint venture. 

 

Although a large capital outlay from Bracknell Forest would still be required, the report outlined the proposed financial modelling which suggested a potential saving of over £500,000 per year on care home placement costs although it would also reduce any ongoing revenue savings.  The Panel was advised that detailed specifications were still being worked on together with a further feasibility study to decide the best use of the land.

 

The development of the new care home would take an estimated 3 years and the Panel were advised that Bridgewell could potentially be the initial site for a provider to provide residential care from in the intervening period.  There would be minimal conversion costs at Bridgewell to facilitate this but this would only proceed if deemed appropriate following a feasibility study.

 

The Panel endorsed the recommendations made to the Executive.

 

Contact Information

Democratic services

Email: committee@bracknell-forest.gov.uk