Invitees:

Sue Cooper – Corporate Director – Social Services and Wellbeing

Jacqueline Davies – Head of Adult Social Care

Arron Davies – Finance Manager – Social Services, Wellbeing, Resources and Operational & Partnership Services

Councillor Phil White – Cabinet Member – Social Services and Early Help

The Scrutiny Officer introduced a report, the purpose of which was to present the draft Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2017-18 to 2020-21, which set out the spending priorities of the Council, key investment objectives and budget areas targeted for necessary savings.  It also included a financial forecast for 2017-21 and a detailed draft revenue budget for 2017-18.  

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing set out the context for the draft budget proposals in Adult Social Care which was based on strong management performance across all service areas, robust budget monitoring and change management.  This had been achieved through children’s and adult social care teams being brought together in order to give a stronger focus on social care as a professional discipline and to identify efficiency savings.  Sport, Play and Active Wellbeing had been brought into the same Directorate to better support prevention, early intervention and wellbeing approaches.  She stated that all changes made to the management of the Directorate are linked to better outcomes for people and are linked to the MTFS.  Savings of over £9m in social care had been delivered over the past three years, with a strategy to manage demand and introduce new ways of working in order to lessen dependency and enable people to maximise their independence.  She stated that all services are on track to achieve their targets this year. 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that many of the budget proposals are around the prevention and wellbeing agenda and savings of £10m were needed to be made over the next 4 years.  A number of initiatives are linked to achieve those savings.           

The Committee requested an explanation of the budget reduction proposal SSW2 to develop and implement personalised budgets and paying for care. The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that future generations will need to have a grasp of paying for care.  Payments for care will be capped and it was for this reason charges are being made for care to enable people to live as independently as possible.  She stated that a lot could be done on personalised budgets and that the Institute of Personal Care had been commissioned to review the direct payments strategy which would be completed in the New Year. 

The Committee questioned who would be responsible for managing and scrutinising the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF), where the funding would be allocated and whether the funding is for a particular project.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that funding from the ICF comes into the Western Bay Region and is used to fund pieces of work across the Region or through the 3 local authorities.  The Western Bay Region has a Partnership Board which has transparent monitoring and governance arrangements.  Key decisions from the Region are considered by each of the Cabinets of the three local authorities and Local Health Board and its decisions can be scrutinised by the overview and scrutiny process.  The Committee requested a further report in order to monitor the developments and progress made in conjunction with the successful bid. 

The Head of Adult Social Care informed the Committee of the allocation of funding from ICF in that 51% was allocated to local authorities and 49% to the Local Health Board.  Additional funding of £2.236m had been allocated from the ICF in this year and additional bids had been put in.  The funding from ICF had led to the development of a Section 33 agreement between the Council and the Health Board through the Community Resource Team details of which have been subject to previous Scrutiny reports . 

The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that funding had been used to support acute services to allow the earlier discharge of patients from hospital, which had led to a much stronger focus with the Health Board.  The Finance Manager informed the Committee that the ICF is audited by the Wales Audit Office.  In response as to how the funding of £60m across Wales is calculated, the Head of Adult Social Care stated funding was calculated based on a Welsh Government formula relating to the population of older people.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help stated that concerns in relation to the spending of funding had been raised at the Policy Group of the WLGA.  He commented that the Directorate has a good relationship with the Health Board in relation to the decisions it takes on the ICF.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing confirmed that in the event of slippage in the spending of funding there is a robust process to allocate slippage across the region. 

The Committee requested a case study which showed how the funding from the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) impacts service users. 

The Head of Adult Social Care informed the Committee that funding from ICF is used to support the discharge of patients from hospital and to enable a package of support to be provided to them at home.  There is also in place additional occupational therapists to ensure patients come into core services are in receipt of the right level of care package. 

The Committee questioned the role of the Community Health Council (CHC) in relation to the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) and the Western Bay Regional Partnership Board.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated she would confirm the role of the CHC in relation to the Intermediate Care Fund.  She stated that the CHC would have an awareness of ICF due to their role on the Health Board. 

The Committee questioned how much of the funding of £11k which had been transferred into the Revenue Support Grant was allocated to the support the Deprivation of Liberty Standards (DoLS).  The Finance Manager confirmed that the funding was spilt 3 ways with £8k being allocated to the responsibility in connection with DoLS.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that a budget of £89k had been allocated to fulfill the requirements of implementing DoLS.  She stated that there would be a structured approach to managing DoLS and a report on the increased legislative responsibility with DoLS would be submitted to the February meeting of the Committee as part of the report on the implementation of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act.

The Committee referred to the projected overspend for Social Services and Wellbeing as at 30 September 2016 of £249k and questioned how this compared to the spend of the previous year.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that the projected overspend would be attributed to the children’s services and confirmed that the Directorate was currently on target for spends in relation to adult social care.  She stated that the adult social care budget was underspent last year.

The Committee questioned whether bringing the children’s and adult social care together had been a success.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that bringing the two teams together had been the right thing to do and the teams had responded well to the change.  She stated that both Heads of Service work very well together with both Heads being able to cover each other’s responsibilities.  She commended the work ethic and commitment of both teams and commented that both services are very different.  The bringing together of both teams had proved beneficial to children’s services as it had benefitted from commissioning.  She stated that the Transition Team had been able to plan for service users as they move from children’s services to adult services.  She also informed the Committee that the re-structure of the Safeguarding Teams had been positive.  The Head of Adult Social care commented that both teams were seen as one service and that her responsibilities were interchangeable with the Head of Children’s Social Care.  Different officers had been used to deal with each other’s cases.

The Committee questioned how the Sport, Play and Active Wellbeing team is fitting in to the Directorate and how it was focusing on the development of the wellbeing and preventative agenda.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that the Group Manager Sports and Physical Activity had been part of the Directorate for the last 2 years and that the Team was working actively on the ageing well and preventative agenda.  She stated that it was proposed to transform the Team so that it focused on prevention and wellbeing with a lesser focus on sport.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help commented on the recent success of the Olympage Games which had taken place in Cefn Cribwr where various activities had been organised to assist people with their movement.  He stated that the event had been attended by the Minister and Assembly Member and it was hoped to be an annual event.  There was also interaction at the event between Bridgend College students and service users.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing also informed the Committee that the Sport, Play and Active Wellbeing team is working with different teams to encourage people to participate in exercise and keep active.  She commented that she was very proud of the Team’s achievements. 

The Committee questioned whether the outcomes of the wellbeing and preventative work would be measured.  The Head of Adult Social Care stated that a performance framework would be developed which would take some lead in time.  It was planned to keep people physically active and that as part of the focus it was hoped to see domiciliary and residential care costs reducing as people access services in their own community, which would see community resilience being built up.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that the Welsh Government had set a target for a survey to be undertaken which would help the performance framework.  The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help stated that an online link of the Olympage event would be sent to the Committee.

The Committee requested an update on the red status for budget reduction proposal SSW1 – Impact of the Prevention and Wellbeing Agenda of £668k.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing stated that the budget reduction proposal related to 2017-18 and its status is red as some more planning was required, but it would build on the success achieved this year.  The Head of Adult Social Care stated that the work of the Community Co-ordinators was being looked at in how it worked strategically with partners and how it can be more robust. 

The Committee questioned the views of staff on the changes being made in the Directorate.  The Head of Adult Social Care stated that the Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing had embedded a process of robust holding regular meetings with the Teams which make up the Directorate.  There is also a robust budget monitoring process in place.  It had also been embedded as part of the core business of the Directorate to consult on changes with staff and not to impose change.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing chairs the Remodelling Board and the Head of Adult Social Care chairs the Change of Culture Board in the Directorate.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that an event had recently been held with an extended managers group and attended by the two Cabinet Members whose portfolios covered the Directorate.  She also informed the Committee that she has regular budget meetings with the Finance Manager.  She stated that the Directorate has embedded in it a strong value base and ethos. 

The Committee questioned the number of agency staff in the Directorate.  The Corporate Director Social Services and Wellbeing informed the Committee that 7 or 8 agency staff are employed in Children’s Services and it was unusual for agency staff to be engaged in adult social care.  The Committee also questioned the number of consultants used by the Directorate.  She stated that the Institute of Personal Care were paid an annual membership fee and had been commissioned to do a piece of work on Direct Payments over 15 days.  Some pro-bono work had also been done for the Directorate by Mutual Ventures on respite and remodeling over 4/5 days.  Some work would also be done in relation to alternative methods of delivery on respite, emergency provision, and day services, which would be shared with Committee once completed. 

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help placed on record his appreciation for the work of the Committee whose role he saw as invaluable.  He stated that the Council will move towards a one Council ethos which will result in changes being necessary to the way services are delivered.       

The Chairperson thanked the invitees for their contribution. 

Conclusions      

a)  The Committee note that the Sport, Play and Active Wellbeing team are focusing on the development of the wellbeing and preventative agenda and Member questioned whether future reports of the team would be presented to Adult Social Care or remain with Community Environment and Leisure.

b)  The Committee have requested that when Members receive an update on the implementation of the Social Services and Wellbeing Act in February, Officers provide information relating to what the Local Authority has undertaken in relation to the Council’s increased legislative responsibility in connection with Deprivation of Liberty Standards (DoLS) and how this work is monitored.

c)  Members requested that the next meeting of Adult Social Care scheduled for 6 February 2017 be held at Trem Y Mor.

The Committee requested the following additional information.

While discussing the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) Members queried how much of the grant was allocated to staff costs.

Members queried what role the Community Health Board played in connection to the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) and the established Western Bay Partnership Board.

Members had several queries in relation the ICF and requested that the item be added to their Forward Work Programme to enable the Committee to monitor the developments and progress made in conjunction with the successful bid.  When receiving this report, the Committee wished to receive a case study showing how the money spent from the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) impacts service users.

Members have requested that Personalised Budgets be added to their Forward Work Programme to monitor its development and implementation.  The Committee note that there is work being commissioned in connection to this, which is due to be completed at the end of the financial period and Members wish to receive a report detailing the progress made.