Agenda and minutes

Councillor Mrs Birch declared a personal interest in Item 8: Future Provision of Services: Heathlands Residential Care Home and Day Centre for People with Dementia, as the spouse of the Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 16 December 2015.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 December 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no urgent items of business.

A verbal summary of any significant points raised at the meeting of the Local Joint Committee held earlier in the day.

The Chairman of the Local Joint Committee reported that the trade unions had shown understanding and sympathy for the difficult budget year that lay ahead for the Council and the employment implications that would arise from this.

Trade unions had appreciated the way in which consultation had been undertaken and hoped that these good lines of communication would continue as further savings were made by the Council.

The Director of Corporate Services gave an overview of the work of the Transformation Board. Trade unions asked that they be kept informed of this work.

The Committee is asked to note the minutes of the Local Joint Committee held on 16 December 2015.

The minutes of the Local Joint Committee on 16 December 2016 were noted. It was noted that the trade unions had chaired this meeting.

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:

(1)        Information relating to any individual  (Item 8 and 9).

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 involved the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of that Act:

(1)        Information relating to any individual  (Minute 47 and 48).

The Committee is asked to note the possible outcome of the public consultation held concerning the provision of services at Heathlands Residential Care Home and Day Centre for People with Dementia. The public consultation concludes on 21st January 2016 and the decision on the provision of services will be taken to the Executive on 9^th February.

The Chief Officer: Older People and Long Term Conditions reported that the public consultation which had included staff involvement had closed on 21 January 2016. The Executive on 9 February 2016 had decided that the care home should be closed and the that services be recommissioned. It was reported that residents and families had been informed and further detailed work with the residents and their families would continue with a view to securing alternative residential, nursing or day care provision.

All staff had been consulted and invited to make an appointment with the Human Resources team to explore redeployment opportunities.

The Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Health & Housing reported that it was important to recognise that the quality of care at Heathlands was not in question; the fabric of the building had meant that provision could no longer continue in that setting. He was confident that private sector providers would respond to demand in the Borough adequately.

In response to Members’ queries it was reported that officers would work with residents and their families to find alternative care and that all residents would be monitored for 12 months after they were moved to ensure that they were well settled.

The Chief Officer Human Resources reported that initial estimate calculations for redundancies had been based on the care home closing on 31 March 2016 as was originally proposed. The Executive on 9 February 2016 had agreed that Heathlands be closed on 30 April 2016 and this would mean that redundancy payments would need to be recalculated. She stated that these recalculations would be circulated to Committee Members.   

It was RESOLVED that;

i)              the proposed changes to provision of services outlined in the report be noted

ii)             following the decision of the Executive on 9 February 2016 to close Heathlands, that the redundancies arising from  this closure be delegated to the Director of Adult Social Care, Health & Housing in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee and be reported back to the Employment Committee.

The purpose of this report is to identify the staffing implications arising from the budget proposals for 2016/17. 

The Committee considered a report that identified the staffing implications arising from the budget proposals for 2016/17. The budget proposals would subsequently be subject to Council approval on 24 February 2016.

It was RESOLVED that the Employment Committee;

i)              delegate if necessary, to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman, the authority to approve the deletion of the posts identified in Exempt Appendix B of the agenda papers with effect from the dates indicated subject to approval of the budget at Executive on 23 February and Council on 24 February 2016.

ii)             delegate if necessary, to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman the authority to agree that the post holders be declared redundant in accordance with the terms set out in Exempt Appendix B of the agenda papers, with the costs being met from the Structural Changes Fund (subject to any redeployment opportunities offered to those affected) and subject to Executive agreeing the budget on 23 February and Council 24 February 2016.

16 March 2016

16 March 2016.