Agenda item

Councillor Stephen Hayes - Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Adult Social Care (10.10 - 10.35)

Minutes:

5.1    Councillor Stephen Hayes – Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Adult Social Care

 

          During an update in relation to portfolio matters particular reference was made to:

 

a.         Council Seminars – the Portfolio Holder had held a number of Council Seminars and would continue to engage with members regarding arrangements for delivering and reviewing adult social care

b.         Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 – the Council and Health Board continue to work closely to deliver on requirements under the Act.  The Act requires the Health Authority and County Council to work closer together.  Powys had been at an advanced stage of joint working given previous attempts to collaborate on projects across the region

c.         Joint Partnership Board – unlike previous governance arrangements introduced to drive joint working between the Council and Health Authority the Joint Partnership Board (which had been tasked with moving forward on joint matters) had delegated powers.  The Board has oversight of activities and functions which span both organisations and the voluntary sector

d.         Integrated Service Team (Ystradgynlais) – a pilot arrangement which had seen a flagship joint Council/Health team operating in the Ystradgynlais area would be evaluated shortly.  The focus had been on supporting more independent living

e.         Budget Position – the Adult Social Care budget remains volatile and Council had agreed in February to including saving targets for the current and future years.  In the light of the positon Cabinet had agreed to a review of day care which included the operation of day care sites.  The budget for 2016/17 had been set by Council at a standstill positon i.e. there had been no increase in budget and Council had agreed 5% cuts to the budgets for the financial years 2017/18 and 2018/19.  The overspend for 2016/17 would be likely to be in the region of £4-5 million.  Additional pressures had been in relation to increase in demand and meeting contractual arrangements to pay at the rate of the National Living Wage.  The Portfolio Holder is confident that officers draw down the full entitlement of grant funding to support grant funded projects.  The Welsh Government had recently announced an additional £25 million across Wales to support care needs, however, the detail was lacking and, to date, budgets from the Welsh Government didn’t identify additional targeted funding

f.          Consultant (Review of the Spend/Budget) – in an effort to unpick the spend and identify areas where savings could be considered the Authority had employed a consultant to scrutinise the budget i.e. there are some instances where the Authority provides funding direct to residents via. Direct Payments and those payments are being banked by residents and unspent.  A consultancy which had been working with Cardiff Council to review its residential care had also supported Powys with reviewing its arrangements (the BUPA contract)

g.         Meeting the Need – the Portfolio Holder confirmed that a range of arrangements are operating throughout Powys to meet areas of need.  The focus had been on delivering services that are safe and secure and in meeting statutory obligations

h.         Day Centres – as a result of the poor budget positon and the Council agreeing in February of this year that there should be saving targets for adult social care the Authority was consulting with regard to the operation of its day centres.  Members were reminded that as the current estate stands there’s inequality of provision across the county

i.           Cabinet – Cabinet would determine its position following the review on 20th December 2016

j.           Welshpool Day Centre – before Council had agreed to include a cut in funding for Adult Social Care and Cabinet had moved forward with the day centre review links had been made to encourage communities to engage in activities to support community transfers/delivery.  Welshpool Town Council had expressed an interest in operating the Welshpool facility and, subsequently, a contract had been entered into for a seven year period for the Town Council to run the facility.  Due to the contractual arrangements and in the light of the above the Welshpool facility would sit outside of the review.  The Portfolio Holder agreed that it would be timely to visit the site to learn of the experience so far

k.         Consultation – the Portfolio Holder accepted the view from two members that the consultation in relation to day centres had been lacking in terms of financial information.  The Portfolio Holder encouraged members to respond to the consultation

l.           Befriending Scheme – it was felt that in some situations there would be a need for people to be appropriately trained to meet needs i.e. toileting, lifting, caring for those with dementia etc. The Portfolio Holder reminded members that the idea behind ‘befriending’ was not that someone should sit with someone alone for company but should take the wider role of helping the resident in engaging with the wider community and join in on activities

m.       Assessed Need – regardless of the budget position the Authority would have a duty to meet assessed need

n.         Council Services – it was felt by a member that the need to raise revenue through Council Tax to deliver services should be recognised and that pressures in delivering on care should not remove funding used to support other areas of spend across the Council

o.         LlysGlan Yr Afon (Newtown) – members had been invited to attend a tour of the new facility on Friday of this week.  The facility would provide 49 residential units.  The site could become a very important facility for community use in Newtown.  A member expressed concern regarding there being just 29 car parking spaces at the facility

p.         Respite Care – a member urged consideration of the impact on those who care for people and respite should day centres close.  Those who provide care would need to be supported for periods of respite

q.         Residential Care (Post 2017) – the Authority had entered into an agreement with BUPA (for an increased cost to the budget) to extend an agreement for one year (2016-17) with BUPA to provide residential care.  The Authority would continue working with BUPA to look to arrive at an agreement for the longer term but as things stands the offer from BUPA is not affordable.  The option would be management via. a Local Authority Trading Company (LATC) to meet the need and within budget

 

Members thanked the Portfolio Holder for his update and would welcome information from the outcome of the Ystradgynlais Integrated Care Pilot and information in relation to the Befriending Scheme.