Agenda and draft minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

To elect a Vice Chair for the ensuing year.

RESOLVED that County Councillor L Rijenberg be elected Vice Chair for the ensuing year.

To receive declarations of interest from Members.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

(NB:  Members are reminded that, under Section 78, Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

There were no disclosures of party whips.

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

The Chair was authorised to sign the minutes of the last meeting as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer has determined that category 3 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules applies to the following item. His view on the public interest test (having taken account of the provisions of Rule 11.8 of the Council's Access to Information Rules) was that to make this information public would disclose personal data relating to an individual in contravention of the principles of the Data Protection Act. Because of this and since there did not appear to be an overwhelming public interest requiring the disclosure of personal data he felt that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. Members are asked to consider these factors when determining the public interest test, which they must decide when considering excluding the public from this part of the meeting.

RESOLVED to exclude the public for the following item of business on the grounds that there would be disclosure to them of exempt information under category 3 of The Local Authorities (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007).

To consider the report of the Portfolio Holder.

Documents:

·         Valuing Domiciliary Care

·         Impact Assessment  

Discussion:

·         The Committee was briefed on proposals to develop the domiciliary care market to ensure its sustainability

Outcomes:

·         The Committee support the proposals

·         A progress report to be submitted to Committee in December 2021

The next scheduled meetings are:

·         Wednesday 20 January 2021 – 10 am  

·         Thursday 28 January 2021 – 10 am - Budget proposals

It was noted that working group meetings to consider budget proposals had had to be cancelled due to the pressure on the service of the pandemic.  The Service had invoked its business continuity plan and was covering mission critical work only.  Both services were under pressure, but Adult Services were also emergency responders.  Infection rates are up significantly with winter pressures likely to add significantly to workload in January and February.   The service is also supporting the roll out of the vaccination programme and a pilot for those who are a-symptomatic.

The Committee would, however, like to see the proposed efficiencies and impact assessments as soon as possible to enable scrutiny to take place and to aid understanding.  Some proposals had been considered by the Finance Panel and they seemed to be challenging.  Senior officers reiterated that the service was aiming to provide the right service, more effectively and reduce costs.  It was acknowledged there had been over provision in the past.

Outcomes:

·         Members would wish to see the following topics covered at future meetings of the Committee or Working Groups

o   Risk

o   Finance

o   Performance

o   Criteria for Domiciliary Care