To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Members:

Councillor P John

Councillor B Jones

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including Whipping Declarations)

Declarations of Interest were received from the following Members

Councillor N Clarke – Personal Interest in item 5 as a volunteer for Guide Dogs Cymru

Councillor D sage – Prejudicial Interest in Item 6 as he was in receipt of Direct Payments

Councillor P Davies was nominated by Members to Chair the meeting for Item 6

To receive for approval, the minutes of the meeting of the Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 11 February 2016

RESOLVED:                            That the minutes of the Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 11 February 2016 were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report to the Committee on the items due to be considered at the Committee’s next meeting to be held following the Annual General Meeting of Council

RESOLVED:         The Committee:

1. Noted the topics due to be considered at the next meeting of the Committee to be scheduled at the Annual General Meeting of Council

Determined the invitees to be invited to attend, any specific information they would like the invitees to provide and any research that it would like the Overview and Scrutiny Unit to undertake in relation to the meeting.

Invitees

Cllr P White - Cabinet Member Adult Social Care Health and Wellbeing

Susan Cooper Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing

Jacqueline Davies - Head of Adult Social Care,

Mark Wilkinson - Group Manager - Learning Disability

Judith Brooks - Group Manager - Business Support

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing provided the Committee with an update on the development of preventative services and local community coordination in line with the implementation of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014

She explained to Members that the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 came into force on 6 April 2016.  The Act places a strong emphasis on the development of services that prevent or delay the need for formal care and support services.  She added that the implementation of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 has been coordinated by a project team in the Social Services and Wellbeing Directorate and included work on:

• Awareness raising sessions
• Provision of information about the Act and the Codes of Practice
• Provision of Information on the BCBC Website and Intranet
• Training Events
• Development of Policies and Procedures

Members commended the work of the Local Community Coordinator for Bridgend.  A Member asked where the Local Community Coordinators were based and if any were based South of the M4.  The Deputy Leader stated that there were currently three based in the Llynfi Valley which was part of a pilot carried out in that particular area.  He added that this was now planned to be rolled out to the whole of BCBC.

A Member asked if the current savings set aside for the project was enough or if this would diminish over the coming years.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that the Authority would need to work hard with the third sector to ensure that it becomes a core service.  She added that the Directorate would be working across the Authority to ensure that Wellbeing and Prevention was understood by all staff.  The Deputy Leader added that it would be informative if a representative from the health services could be invited to future Scrutiny Committee meetings to discuss the subject.

A Member referred to the registers of sight and hearing impaired and other disabled people and asked who owned and who was able to access the information.   The Head of Adult Social Care advised the Committee that this was a new responsibility and the register would form part of a new IT system that had been developed.  She added that the Authority is signed up to a data sharing protocol that all individuals on the register would have given their consent for their information to be held.  She confirmed that the information held on the registers was protected.  A Member further queried how accurate the registers were if consent for their information to be held on the registers was not given from all individuals.  The Head of Adult Social Care advised that whilst it was down to individual consent whether they wanted their information to be included on the registers, they had not yet had anyone not give their consent. 

A Member queried the accuracy of an accessibility guide that provided details of accessibility information for venues such as restaurants, community centres and libraries that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Invitees

Cllr P White - Cabinet Member Adult Social Care Health and Wellbeing

Susan Cooper Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing

Jacqueline Davies - Head of Adult Social Care,

Mark Wilkinson - Group Manager - Learning Disability

Judith Brooks - Group Manager - Business Support

Councillor D Sage left the meeting for the Direct Payments Item as he had earlier declared a prejudicial interest as he is in receipt of Direct Payments.  Councillor P Davies chaired the meeting for this item.

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing gave a report to Committee of the current situation with the provision of Direct Payments and the plans for the development of the use of Direct Payments in line with the implementation of the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014

She explained that Direct Payments were cash payments made to a person who was eligible for care and support from social services, to enable them to arrange and pay for their own care and support.  Direct Payments were a different way of delivering social services responsibilities where there was an assessed eligible need.  The main purpose of Direct Payments were to give people:

• Flexibility over when their care was provided and the exact nature of the care. 
• Choice and control over who they have caring for them and the standards and quality of that care.

A Member asked what percentage of payments made were paid to employ personal assistants.  The Group Manager Learning Disability stated that payments were made monthly and that on average £14 an hour was paid to personal assistants however this could vary a lot depending on what providers were used.

A Member queried the process where service users had not fully utilised their payments.  The Group Manager, Learning Disability advised that payments were regularly monitored and instances where payments had not been used the Authority had reclaimed the amount and there had also been instances where the monthly payments had been reduced as a result.  He added that invoices were submitted by recipients of Direct Payments to detail how the funds had been spent.

Members queried how often payments were made and how robust the process was.  The Head of Adult Social Care stated that payments were made in advance on a monthly basis to enable service users to pay their employees in a timely manner.  She added that payments were reviewed regularly and adjustments made to payments where required.

A Member was concerned at the complications that came with the Direct Payments in that those in receipt of them would become an employer and questioned what support was available for them to manage the process.    The Head of Adult Social Care advised that when Direct Payments are taken up there is a lot of discussion with the recipient about their responsibilities as an employer and support and advice relating to banking and tax as well as their specific needs to determine the package of care they require.  She added the process is closely monitored and reviewed on an annual basis. 

A Member raised concerns regarding the funding for the contract of a service provider.  The Group Manager Learning Disability stated that the contract would be for three years with the option to extend and that the contract included £100k staffing costs.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

The Scrutiny Officer gave a report to Committee to seek nominations for the Budget Research and Evaluation Panel.

RESOLVED:    Councillor PA Davies and Councillor M Butcher (Reserve) were appointed.

To consider any items of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None