Agenda and minutes

Noted

Mr Hill introduced and welcomed Lesley Andrews who has recently been appointed as Head of Commissioned Services within KCC’s Customer and Communities Directorate, which includes in its remit the Kent Supporting People Team.

(1)         Mr Hill advised the Commissioning Body that the position of Vice Chair was due for re-election.

(2)         Mr Hill indicated that he wished to nominate Cllr Anderson for re-election, and asked the Commissioning Body whether there were any other nominations. No further nominations were received, and Cllr Austin seconded the nomination of Cllr Anderson.

(3)         The Commissioning Body AGREED that Cllr Anderson be re-elected as Vice Chair for another term. 

The minutes of the meeting of the Commissioning Body held on 11 October 2011 were agreed as a true record.

(1)         The Commissioning Body noted for information the minutes of the meeting of the Core Strategy Group held on 5 December 2011.

(2)         Cllr Anderson expressed disappointment in the level of attendance at the Core Strategy Group meeting.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(An exempt appendix to this report was tabled at the meeting. Mr Hill advised the Commissioning Body that the meeting would go into closed session if at any time there needed to be specific discussion on the contents of the exempt appendix. However, in the event no such discussion arose).

(1)         This report had been requested at the previous meeting by Cllr Austin, who thanked the Kent Supporting People Team for the detail now provided. The report outlined the approach being taken in relation to the reduction in funding for extra care sheltered accommodation.

(2)         Cllr Austin stated that he did not agree with the application of the general activities identified as housing related support in paragraph 1(5) on page 14 when looking at the specific activities listed in Appendix 1 (page 17) as ‘Other’. Cllr Austin stated that many of the specific activities listed as ‘Other’ do in fact fall within the general headings indicated in paragraph 1(5) and so should be classed as housing related. Cllr Austin felt that these activities should be seen as part of an enhanced care package, and so were being unfairly discounted.

(3)         Bob Porter added that the purpose of extra care is to prevent more expensive forms of care, and that the activities listed in the ‘Other’ section contribute to the extra value which may prevent the need for more expensive forms of care. Bob felt that the current proposals overlooked the additional value of staff based on site, and that the report didn’t address the issue of what is the most cost effective approach. He also suggested that if on site staff are not fully engaged at all times it would be good to explore how they could be used to meet other needs within the wider community.

(4)         Cllr Anderson suggested looking at the client perspective, where it may appear complicated to have several different people delivering care, and so there is a benefit from at least having someone on site who understands where clients need to go for the specific support they need.

(5)         Cllr Chandler stated that surely it was possible to integrate adult social care and utilise extra resources to allow people to remain independent.

(6)         Mr Hill expressed sympathy with the points raised, but said that there is an issue about who is paying. If services are to be delivered on site it is crucial to make sure that the right agency is paying for each service.

(7)         The Commissioning Body AGREED that there should be no decision on this matter at this time, and that it would be deferred to the next meeting.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report provided the background to a delay in the tendering process for Home Improvement Agency and Handyperson Services which has resulted in the need to extend existing contracts for a further 6 months to 30 September 2012.

(2)         In introducing this report Claire Martin advised the Commissioning Body that the second recommendation at paragraph 9(1) on page 26 should be amended to indicate reserves up to £445K rather than £345K.

(3)         John Littlemore also requested that the wording of the first part of the recommendation be amended as the reference to legal liability was misleading. Angela Slaven confirmed that, whilst it was crucial that contracts should reflect that KCC has no legal liability as KCC is procuring on behalf of districts/boroughs, there is no need for this to be stated in the recommendation to the Commissioning Body and so this particular sentence can be removed from the recommendation.

(4)         There was some discussion about expectations on district/borough contributions, however Mr Hill advised that this sort of detail should be dealt with at the Core Strategy Group meetings rather than by the Commissioning Body.

(5)         Mr Hill asked what the benefit of delay would be bearing in mind the cost, and Claire Martin advised that the delay would ensure a better service.

(6)         The Commissioning Body AGREED the following revised recommendations:

1.      Delay of the procurement process to incorporate the option for Districts and Boroughs to include the Disabled Facilities Grant into the contract with provider/s where required.

2.      The use of non recurring reserves up to £445K to support the extension of the existing service provision.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report presented a revised Kent Reconnection Policy 2012/13 based on a review previously requested by the Commissioning Body.

(2)         The Commissioning Body AGREED the Kent Supporting People Reconnection Policy 2012/13

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report presented an amended Kent Eligibility Policy based on a general review of the current policy agreed by the Commissioning Body in 2008.

(2)         The Commissioning Body AGREED to the amended Kent Supporting People Eligibility Policy 2012/13.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report provided context for the operating environment within which the Supporting People Programme currently exists and the circumstances that service users find themselves in relating to welfare benefits and access to rented housing, education, training, and employment.

(2)         The Commissioning Body NOTED the content of the report, for which there will be a further update at the next meeting on 17^th April.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report updated the Commissioning Body in relation to performance against Key Performance Indicators, including for the first time indicators relating to service utilisation.

(2)         The 98% target for KPI1 has now been met in Quarter 2, and the KPI2 target of 71% has been consistently surpassed over the last five quarters.

(3)         The Commissioning Body NOTED the content of this report, and Mr Hill suggested consideration of raising the KPI2 target for which a report should be included at the next meeting.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report provided the third quarterly assessment of the impact of the reduction in April 2011 of the capacity of floating support services.

(2)         The Commissioning Body NOTED the contents of this report.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report set out the future direction of floating support in order to reflect current and future strategic challenges.

(2)         The Commissioning Body NOTED the content of the report, and that a further report will be brought to the next meeting in April regarding revision of protocols, with a second report regarding automation of the application process to follow at a later meeting.

Report by Angela Slaven, Director of Service Improvement

(1)         This report provided details of the projected financial outturn and the balance held on reserves for 2011/12 as at November 2011.

(2)         The Commissioning Body NOTED the content of this report, and advised that the under-spend should be closely monitored to ensure that it continues to go back into the Supporting People Programme.

None

For information

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