Agenda and minutes

Mrs A D Allen proposed and Mr C P Smith seconded that Mr K Pugh be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee.

Agreed without a vote

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meetings held on 1 April and 25 June 2009 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.  There were no matters arising.

The Committee is asked to note its meeting dates for the remainder of 2009 and 2010

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Friday, 25 June 2010

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

All meetings will start at 10.00 am at County Hall and may run into the afternoon if the weight of business dictates.

RESOLVED that the dates reserved for the Committee’s meetings for the remainder of 2009 and 2010 be noted, as follows:-

Tuesday, 22 September 2009

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

Friday, 25 June 2010

Tuesday, 21 September 2010

Tuesday, 16 November 2010

All meetings will start at 10.00 am at County Hall and may run into the afternoon if the weight of business dictates.

(1)       The Chairman welcomed Miss Jennifer Powell, a sixth form pupil at the Westlands School in Sittingbourne, who was visiting the Democratic Services Unit for a week’s work experience.

(2)       He announced the receipt of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report of its inspection of Kent Adult Social Services in March, “Independence, Wellbeing and Choice”.  Mr Gibbens added his thanks and appreciation to KASS officers and asked that these be passed onto the staff who had taken part in the inspection.  He emphasised that only one other shire county had achieved the same level as Kent, and was delighted that Kent had performed so well against its peers, as this demonstrated its commitment to strong service delivery.  He said it was good that both the service delivery and capacity to improve had scored well as this illustrated Kent’s commitment to constant improvement.  All POC Members would be sent a copy of the Inspector’s report, and an item would be included on September’s agenda to allow Members the opportunity to debate it fully.

(3)       The Chairman referred to the Government Green Paper “Shaping the Future of Care Together” which Mr Mills explained had been published on 14 July 2009.  All POC Members were given a summary of the paper and all would be sent a copy of the full Green Paper.  An item on the Green Paper would be included in the POC’s September agenda, to allow Members the chance to debate it fully and contribute views before the end of the consultation period in November 2009.

(1)       Mr Mills presented a series of slides (which are appended to these Minutes) setting out the work of KASS around Active Lives for Adults and new ways of working which were currently being developed, particularly Self Directed Support (SDS).  The self-generated major restructure of the directorate which had taken place over recent months was closely linked to the changing methods of service delivery and had been undertaken to support these new approaches.

(2)       Mr Mills, Mr Gibbens and Mr Leidecker answered a number of questions from Members, and the following points were highlighted:-

(a)       all new clients assessed by KASS would have a personal budget, and existing clients would gradually transfer to personal budgets;

(b)       the nature of KASS’s work, assessing and delivering services to meet individuals’ needs, meant that change to a new delivery model would necessarily be very gradual.  Individual plans would allow service users maximum personal choice, so the patterns identified when referring to change would be general trends only. Clients would never all be using exactly the same ways of accessing services;

(c)        the personal assistants who are employed by clients using personal budgets are not employed by KASS, but KASS staff would act as brokers/co-ordinators to ensure that local provision was sufficient to meet the needs of the local client population;

(d)       when making changes to day centre services for clients with learning disabilities, full consultation was always undertaken to ensure that no-one was left without a service that they wanted and relied upon;

(e)       the option of using direct payments would always remain a choice for clients and was never imposed upon them.  Currently, some 2,300 clients were using direct payments;

(f)         KASS staff have the responsibility to emphasise the importance of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and encourage vulnerable adults who are employing personal assistants via direct payments to undertake CRB checks on those people, but could not force them to undertake these;

(g)       Personalised Care Plans (PCPs) would take account of the views of clients and their carer/s and seek to reach a compromise and satisfy both as far as possible if these views differed;

(h)        it was the intention that area briefings for Members would continue, as these had been shown to be very useful in keeping local Members informed of service developments.  By combining two neighbouring districts, briefings could be made more frequent;

(i)         the range of services provided was vital in delivering ALfA, so KCC worked actively with transport providers and district councils as well as health partners.  The KCC’s ‘Living Later Life to the Full’ Policy Framework addressed this issue in more detail;

(j)         social networks, companionship and good communication were also vital in giving support to clients who might otherwise become isolated and would allow them to live independently for as long as possible; and

(k)        in response to a question, Mr Mills said he was confident that all measures possible had been put in place to address the swine flu pandemic.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

(Mr N Sherlock, Head of Planning and Public Involvement, and Ms E Matthews, Senior Planning Officer, were in attendance for this item)

(1)       Mr Leidecker introduced the report and explained that the new format this year brought together business plan and finance outturn monitoring information.  He outlined a number challenges in recording performance against business plan targets:-

(a)       many scores were amber – “almost complete” – as they could not be converted to green until they were totally complete;

(b)       some projects do not fit neatly into financial years but run over the year end, so will only show partial completion;

(c)        this year’s performance had been achieved against the background of a major directorate restructure and a major inspection, both of which diverted much staff resources;

(d)       some targets are addressed in partnership with KCC’s partners, and performance is not always just down to KCC; and

(e)       KASS continued to maintain low levels of staff turnover and sickness.

(2)       Mr Leidecker, Mr Sherlock and Mr Gibbens answered a number of questions from Members and the following points were highlighted:-

(a)       the ‘traffic light’ system could be viewed as being restrictive, having only three bands.  Amber indicates incomplete performance but also indicates room and need for on-going improvement, whilst scoring too many greens could lead to complacency;

(b)       although it could be seen as crude, traffic lights allowed a like with like comparison between directorates and with other councils;

(c)        alongside the traffic light system, it was vitally important to look at the number of successful outcomes for, and the satisfaction of, service users.  What the public saw as good or bad was also very important;

(d)       it was suggested that future reports could pick out the ‘red’ scores and give Members an update on the progress of them.  This idea was supported; and

(e)       a detailed explanation of how resources are allocated to address issues where performance scores red would be circulated to all POC Members.

(3)       RESOLVED that the information given in the report and in response to Members’ questions be noted, with thanks.

(1)       Mr Leidecker introduced the report, which gave a very early indication of outcome, and said he was confident of achieving a balanced budget by the end of the 2009/10 financial year.

(2)       In response to a question, he reassured Members that there was no evidence of service users being deterred from using domiciliary care services by the changes in pricing.  Reduced take up of domiciliary care in recent years should be seen in the context of other initiatives which offered older people different benefits and choices. He added that whilst there had been some reduction, the activity and expenditure lines on domiciliary care still fluctuated and, overall, this area remained one of the most volatile parts of the KASS budget.  KASS would continue to monitor the situation very closely.

(3)       RESOLVED that the information given in the report be noted, with thanks.

(Mr N Sherlock, Head of Planning and Public Involvement, and Ms E Matthews, Senior Planning Officer, were in attendance for this item)

RESOLVED that the information given in the report be noted, with thanks.

(Ms A Slaven, Director of Youth Services and Kent Drug and Alcohol Action Team (KDAAT) was in attendance for this item)

(1)       Ms Slaven introduced the report and explained that the POC was being given a chance to feed into the consultation period, which had been extended to 19 September 2009, as all other POCs and many of KCC’s partners had already done.

(2)       Members welcomed the strategy generally, and thanked Ms Slaven’s team for all the work put into it.  In debate they expressed the following views:-

(a)       more thought should be put into the prevention of alcohol related problems, not just the treatment of them;

(b)       all generations – young people and their parents and grandparents – needed to be helped to understand the impact of alcohol misuse.  Young people receiving information and training targeted at them often highlighted that their parents/grandparents drank more than they did.  It was important not to overlook the extent to which adults also needed engaging and educating;

(c)        national statistics showed that 70% of A&E admissions were related to alcohol misuse, and Members asked to be told the age profile of this number.  Ms Slaven confirmed that statistics were available and would be sent to Members;

(d)       a large number of young people coming into KCC care did so as a result of alcohol or drug misuse, which inevitably led to substantial costs for the KCC, and the County Council should be able to identify statistics for the number of places and the costs of them;

(e)       when investigating and dealing with issues relating to misuse, the importance of a methodical approach was emphasised; and

(f)         as drug and alcohol misuse issues often shared and competed for the same limited  resources, the importance of addressing alcohol issues should not be allowed to become overshadowed.

(3)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the Alcohol Strategy be welcomed, and the officers involved in its preparation be thanked and congratulated; and

(b)       Members’ comments, as set out in paragraph 2 above, be included in the consultation exercise.

(Ms D Exall, Head of Strategic Policy, was in attendance for this item)

(1)       Ms Exall and Mr M J Angell, the KCC’s Older People’s Champion, introduced the report and explained that the POC’s comments on and endorsement of the framework was being sought.  Mr Angell emphasised that the Framework related to all directorates and was being considered by all POCs.  Ms Exall said how useful the POCs had been as a mechanism for seeking Members’ views.

(2)       Ms Exall and Mr Angell answered a number of questions from Members and the following points were highlighted:-

(a)       a full and active life depended on much more than good social care, and transport, health, social networks and adult education were all cited as other vital elements;

(b)       transport problems were not limited to rural areas; the availability of evening and weekend services also presented problems;

(c)        adult education needed to be available, accessible and affordable;

(d)       the Framework and its benefits would need to be applied across the whole county, with no pockets or gaps in coverage;

(e)       Members should champion the better use of resources which KCC had control of or had access to, for the benefit of both older and younger people.  For example, KCC school buses could be used for an evening service where a commercial bus company was reluctant to run a lightly-used service, and library buildings could remain open for longer hours to provide meeting places for social networking;

(f)         it was important to make optimum use of the resources and services run by KCC’s partners and other bodies;

(g)       a good interface between older and younger people was important and would give great benefits but was a challenge to achieve; and

(h)        goodwill and potential funding support were available but linking them up needed a co-ordinator.  KCC could consider whether or not it was able to offer staff to help co-ordinate services.

(3)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the framework be welcomed and endorsed, and the production team congratulated for all the work put into it; and

(b)       Members’ comments, as set out in paragraph (2) above, be taken into account as part of the consultation exercise.

(Mr D Watson, Valuing People Now Delivery Manager, was in attendance for this item)

(1)       Mr Watson introduced the report and explained that Valuing People Now was an initiative similar to Living Later Life to the Full in the breadth of issues it covered but was for people with learning disabilities.  Mr Watson explained that his post had been created with the aim of helping to establish links between KCC directorates and with partner organisations and other bodies.

(2)       The accessibility of transport was an important issue for people with learning disabilities and other special needs, and it was emphasised that funding for accessible transport initiatives should be sought and exploited wherever possible.

(3)       Partnership Boards existed across Kent and these were run by people with learning disabilities for people with learning disabilities.  Members who were more familiar with their work encouraged those Members who were not to find out about and attend these meetings, and Mr Watson undertook to provide meeting dates to POC Members.

(4)       RESOLVED that the information given in the report be noted, with thanks.

(Ms C Mckenzie, Sustainability and Climate Change Manager, was in attendance for this item)

(1)       Ms Mckenzie introduced the report and thanked officers from KASS who had been involved in the work towards the KCC achieving ISO 14001 accreditation.  She explained that Kent was one of the largest county councils to achieve this accreditation.

(2)       Ms Mckenzie answered a number of questions from Members and the following points were highlighted:-

(a)       issues beyond KCC’s control which were identified by the ‘Climate Change’ and ‘Water and Waste Water’ Select Committees, both in 2006, were still very much on the Climate Change agenda.  A Water Demand Management Group had been established, with KCC taking a lead role working with district councils and water companies.  This Group worked on projects seeking to change attitudes to water usage and was pressing for national water consumption targets to be set; and

(b)       systems design to re-use grey water were difficult to build into existing developments so were more economical to plan and  include in new buildings.  However, this and a new sustainable construction policy were being developed for KCC’s property portfolio.  The county’s schools had been particularly keen to be involved in green projects.

(3)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the information given in the report and in response to Members’ questions be noted, with thanks; and

(b)       the proposed next steps for KASS, outlined in Section 6 of the report, be agreed.

(1)       Miss Grayell introduced the report and highlighted two topics for Select Committee reviews – ‘Safeguarding and Adult Protection’ and ‘Dementia’ - which had been proposed by the POC for inclusion in the work programme.

(2)       Members expressed disappointment at the ongoing delay in being able to start new Select Committee work, caused by the delay in the Policy Overview Co-ordinating Committee (POCC) being able to meet to consider and establish the new work programme.

(3)       RESOLVED that:-

(a)       the successful outcome of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder Select Committee work, and the welcome given to the completed report, be noted; and

(b)       the process for preparing a new Select Committee Topic Review Programme, and the topics already put forward from this POC’s work area, be noted, and Members’ disappointment at the delay in agreeing a work programme and starting new Select Committee work be placed on record.