Agenda and minutes

Cllr Mrs S Nicholas, Dover District Council; Cllr Mr A Pritchard, Gravesham Borough Council; Cllr Mrs C Mayhew, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council; Mr J Littlemore, Maidstone Borough Council and Mr B Anderson, KCC.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 December 2008 were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising were dealt with and noted as appropriate.

-          Report by Caroline Highwood, Director Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

This report provided data on all aspects of performance management in the Kent Supporting People Programme. 

Following discussion, the Commissioning Body thanked officers for their report and noted its content.

-          Report by Caroline Highwood, Director Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report provided information on the budgetary provision of the Supporting People Programme for the year 2008/2009 and the predicted position for 2009/2010.  The Commissioning Body Report in December 2008 indicated an estimated spend within 2008/2009 of £31.7m and there was very little change to that position and therefore expenditure remained stable.  The report to the Commissioning Body in December 2008 showed an anticipated spend of £35.2m for 2009/2010 and this had now changed to £34.3m mainly due to competitive bids within the tendering process and the movement of anticipated supported housing schemes into 2010/2011. 

(2)       During the course of discussion Mr Porter said that it would be helpful if the recommendations regarding the Supporting People Budget could in future years be reported at an earlier stage as that would give providers more of an opportunity to set their charges in the knowledge of what had been agreed in relation to the budget setting process.  This was agreed.  Mr Mills said that the proposed inflationary uplift of 2.5% from 1 April 2009 was good when considered against the background of the current economic climate.  He said should the economy go into deflation as some were predicting then matters would need to be reviewed next year in the light of those circumstances.

(3)       The Commissioning Body then noted the contents of the report and agreed an inflationary uplift of 2.5% from 1 April 2009.  The Commissioning Body also agreed that the reporting of the budget position and the recommended inflationary uplift should in future years be submitted earlier in the process so that providers could take these into account when setting their future charges. It was agreed this would be looked at although it was acknowledged this may not in the event be possible.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report provided a summary of how the Kent Supporting People Strategy covering the period 2010-2015 would be developed, and set out what key issues would need to be considered in its development.

(2)       During the course of discussions Cllr Austin said that it would be helpful if more clarity could be provided around the layout and the wording of the proposed questions which would form part of the consultation process.  He also said that he supported the holding of a conference but that needed to be arranged so that it was held early in the consultation period.  In response it was said that the Conference would be held after detailed discussions had taken place with District/Borough partners and other key stakeholders.  There would also be further reports to the Commissioning Body as the consultation process progressed.

(3)       The Commissioning Body then noted the report and the draft project plan for the development of the Kent five-year Supporting People Strategy 2010-2015.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report outlined the current progress in developing a new growth bid process and recommended an interim approach. 

(2)       During the course of discussion Ms Christou gave the Commissioning Body an update on the position with the bid relating to Thanet and said that meetings had been held to try and resolve this particular problem.  She said that the circumstances were now such that care needed to be taken to ensure that a suitable long-term solution was identified but in the meantime there was a need for some specialist floating support.  Ms Martin said that the position in Thanet was very fluid and that members of the Supporting People Team were working closely with Thanet in order to identify and provide a suitable long-term solution. 

(3)       Cllr Mrs Belcourt said that the Commissioning Body deferred consideration of this matter at its last meeting so that it could be provided with more information and therefore she had expected to see a much more detailed written report.  She also said that given the present circumstances she could not agree to the proposal to provide interim funding of a hostel prior to a direct access hostel being funded in Thanet.  Cllr Austin also expressed concerns but said that he was willing to support Thanet by providing some floating support.  Mr Porter said that this matter had been discussed by the Joint Policy Housing Board which was supportive of Thanet being provided with some intensive floating support in order to address the particular issues in this area.  That initiative would need to be led by Thanet.  Mr Porter also said that providing alternative hostel accommodation may not solve the existing problems and it was therefore premature to make decisions around that.  On that basis he proposed, and it was agreed that Paragraphs 2.4 and 6.3 of the report should be deleted and that recommendation 7 (iii) should not be agreed without a further report on these issues being submitted to the Commissioning Body as soon as possible.  Ms Highwood said that there was a need to find both interim and long-term solutions to solve the particular problems within this area of Thanet and she also said that there was a need to ensure that the Commissioning Body was kept informed of progress.  Mr Mills said that it was clearly important for the Commissioning Body to be kept fully informed and for some scoping work to be undertaken in order to identify and clarify the interim and long-term issues. 

(4)       Following further discussions the Commissioning Body accepted the Report with the following exceptions;-

·               the deletion of Paragraph 2.4;

·               in Paragraph 6.1 the date on which a report is to be made back to the Commissioning Body on the growth bid process be changed from September to July 2009;

·               paragraph 6.3 be deleted; and

·               recommendation 7 (III) be deleted.

(5)       On the basis of the above the Commissioning Body therefore agreed to endorse  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report summarised the conclusions of the recommendations of the Strategic Review agreed by the Commissioning Body in September 2007.

(2)       The Commissioning Body noted the contents of the report.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report presented the Kent Move-On Accommodation Strategy that sets out the processes that support vulnerable people moving on from supported to independent accommodation.

(2)       Following discussion the Commissioning Body agreed to the Kent Move-On Accommodation Strategy as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report presented the draft Kent Provider Charter that sets out the commitment that the Kent Supporting People Programme makes to service providers.

(2)       Following discussion the Commissioning Body agreed the Kent Provider Charter as detailed in Appendix 1 to the report.

- Report by Caroline Highwood, Director of Resources, Kent Adult Social Services)

(1)       This report summarised the current Service User Involvement and Consultation activities and identified opportunities for future development.

(2)       Following discussion the Commissioning Body agreed the report.

·               In response to a question Ms Anthony said that the Guidance Handbook was on the Supporting People Commissioning Body website but for ease she would arrange to circulate the hyperlink.

·               Membership – Cllr Mrs Anderson said that the guidance from the Audit Commission said that Commissioning Bodies should have more elected representatives serving on them.  She said this was a worthy aspiration and therefore this was an opportune time to look at the governance and membership arrangements for the Supporting People in Kent Commissioning Body.  This was agreed and a Sub-Group consisting of Mr Gibbens, Cllr Mrs Anderson, Cllr Austin, Mr R Clarke and Ms P Smith was appointed in order to undertake some scoping work on these matters and for a report to be submitted to the July meeting of the Commissioning Body.

·               Mr Porter said that Shepway and Dover were acting in collaboration on a number of management matters amongst these being housing.  Therefore in future he would be attending meetings of the Commissioning Body on behalf of both Shepway and Dover District Councils.

The next meeting of the Commissioning Body is on Thursday 2 July 2009 at Sessions House, County Hall, Maidstone commencing at 2:00 pm.