Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence and notification of any substitutes present.

Apologies for absence were received from Mrs C Bell, Miss E Dawson, Mr G Koowaree and Ms D Marsh.

Mr I Chittenden attended as a substitute for Mr G Koowaree.

To receive any declarations of interest made by Members in relation to any matter on the agenda.  Members are reminded to specify the agenda item number to which it refers and the nature of the interest being declared.

Mr B H Lewis declared an interest as his wife was employed by Kent County Council.

To consider and approve the minutes as a correct record.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 May 2018 are correctly recorded and that they be signed by the Chairman.

To receive verbal updates from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health.

1.    Graham Gibbens (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Appointment of Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health

Mr Gibbens welcomed the new Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Penny Southern.

Update on Progress on Pledge 2 of the British Deaf Association Charter

The Kent County Council website met current accessibility standards in line with legal requirements and had been independently verified by the Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) and received a 4-star rating. Kent County Council was one of only 6 County Councils to achieve the rating for 2017-18 and had consistently achieved this high rating in previous 4 years. The website was compatible with sight impairment equipment such as Job Access with Speech (JAWS). A series of short British Sign Language (BSL) clips were being produced and put onto the website and information to be put into BSL was being identified by the Deaf Community Worker, this would be extended over time to build up a library of clips. Kent County Council videos would all have subtitles and newsletters updating the Deaf Community on developments would be put into BSL on the Sensory Services Facebook page. The BSL interpreting contract was currently being recommissioned and as part of the work Video Interpreting was being explored. The aim was for deaf people to be able to access all KCC services through a ‘front door’ on the website. ‘Hi Kent’ have offered to undertake Deaf Awareness training of reception staff, this would be followed up by Beryl Palmer (Manager of Sensory Disabilities). Wider Deaf Awareness and BSL training would be considered with Workforce Development colleagues as part of the implementation of the Sensory Strategy. Sensory Services staff were continuing to maximise on new digital technology such as Skype to communicate with Deaf people. Kent County Council were working with local Deaf people to help them make most use of new technology developments such as New Generation Text (NGT) which could be used by Deaf people to contact KCC.

2.    The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Penny Southern, thanked the Committee and staff within Kent County Council for congratulating and welcoming her into her new role and said that she was looking forward to leading Adult Social Care and Health. She then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Learning Disability Week 2018

Learning Disability Week 2018 was from 18^th to 24^th June 2018. Penny Southern and Graham Gibbens worked with the Partnership Board who had campaigned with Kent County Council to bring a change into place in Sessions House. She said that many people with learning disabilities had also been campaigning and a new changing place would be opened on 20^th July 2018. On 20^th July a Craft fair would be taking place in Sessions house to celebrate the opening of the new changing place, this would be a very important day for all of the campaigners and Ms Southern  ...  view the full minutes text for item 91.

To receive a report which provides Members with an update on the positive behavioural support service and how personalised care and support for individuals aged 14 years and over who can move from specialist/secure in-patient services into a community setting for delivery of their care, can be delivered.

Emma Hanson (Senior Commissioner) and Clare Maynard (Head of Commissioning Portfolio – Outcome 2 and 3) were in attendance for this item

1.    Clare Maynard introduced the report which set out the Kent and Medway Transforming Care Partnership which sought to develop bespoke and personalised care and support for individuals aged 14 years and over who could move from specialist/secure in-patient services to a community setting for the delivery of their care.

a)    In response to a question, Emma Hanson said that overnight care was provided to patients where appropriate.

b)    In response to a question, Emma Hanson said the staff that were being recruited for the new service needed to be very experienced care workers. She said that work had been undertaken with providers to ensure that the service did not have a negative impact on other services. Penny Southern said that 43 people had been discharged from the Transforming Care programme to specialist services within Kent. She said that Adult Social Care had recently undertaken work with the University of Kent to ensure that people were appropriately trained and supported to work with people in care.

c)    In response to a question, Emma Hanson said that the number of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) had increased. She said that Adult Social Care worked closely with the Children, Young People and Education department to ensure that intervention was in place for young people living with ASD and to ensure that they were supported. Anne Tidmarsh said that Adult Social Care had also worked closely with the NHS to develop a joint service. She said that by using enablement, the demand and need of services can be reduced and people would experience a much more fulfilled life in the community.

2.    RESOLVED that the decision proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, to:

a)    undertake a procurement exercise for the provision of a Positive Behavioural Support Service which will commence from September 2018; and

b)    delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, or other nominated officer, to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision,

be endorsed.

To receive a report which provides Members with an update on care in the home services and the range of services that are commissioned by Kent County Council to provide care and support for people in order that they can safely reside in their own homes or in supported living accommodation.

Clare Maynard (Head of Commissioning Portfolio – Outcome 2 and 3) and Jack Moss (Senior Commissioning Manager) were in attendance for this item

1.    Clare Maynard introduced the report which set out Care in Home service which was designed to provide care and support for people in order that they can safely reside in their own homes or in supported living accommodation.

a)    In response to a question, Clare Maynard said that the approach to the new service would be consistent and at the highest level, whilst still retaining the ability to innovate. She said that it was important to build upon best practice, understand where changes were needed and drive improvement continuously to allow the whole county to benefit from services.

b)    In response to a question, Jack Moss said that in some cases, older people required overnight care and therefore the service would continue to be commissioned. He said that the service was based on the needs of the service users. Anne Tidmarsh said that budget and resources were also considered with regards to overnight care. Penny Southern said that she would investigate inconsistencies regarding practice and would look at whether policies had been applied correctly around individuals to ensure that the approach was consistent. She said that although overnight care could not be delivered for every service user, a thorough assessment would be undertaken to determine whether the service user would qualify for overnight care services. Mr Gibbens (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care) said that everyone was entitled to an assessment and assessed needs would be met. He reassured Members of the Committee that they could contact him directly if there was an issue relating to specifically to their local area.

c)    In response to a question, Mr Gibbens said that the funding of Adult Social Care was a significant challenge which faced all upper-tier authorities in the country. He said that it was important to ensure that the policy for the Care in Home service was clear, and that the Adult Social Care services that were provided by Kent County Council were within the available budget whilst continuing to support the most vulnerable people in Kent. Penny Southern said that the work that had been carried out over the last 2 years had shown an investment within Kent’s domiciliary services across the market. She said that the Care in Home contract was a procurement process which would stable the market. She added that the contracts would run for specified length of time with the new monies investment and the additional money that Kent had provided to sustain the market over the last year was positive news for the market to support prevention and discharge to hospitals.

d)    In response to a question, Jack Moss said the vulnerable adults that were receiving care packages would be contacted by Kent County Council to confirm whether there would be any changes to their package. He said that it was important to ensure that the transition was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 93.

To receive a report which informs Members of the intention to establish new contracts for care homes for people with a Learning Disability, people with a Physical Disability and people with Mental Health Needs from April 2019.

Clare Maynard (Head of Commissioning Portfolio – Outcome 2 and 3) and Paula Watson (Senior Commissioner) were in attendance for this item

1.    Clare Maynard introduced the report which set out the intention to establish new contracts for care homes for People with a Learning Disability, People with a Physical Disability and People with Mental Health Needs from April 2019.

a)    In response to a question, Paula Watson said that the residential care market was decreasing. There was an oversupply in the lower service provision and more specialist support needed to be developed. She said that the costing model had allowed transparency in relation to costs to the provider.

b)    Penny Southern said that the market was for younger adults and although there had not been an appropriate contract in place, a person-centred approach had been taken to look at ways in which people that wanted to live in a registered care home through the cost model could be supported, which had changed the market going forward.

c)    In response to a question, Mr Gibbens said that Mosaic was the new client information ICT system which had replaced SWIFT.

d)    In response to a question, Paula Watson said that assessments would take place to ensure that people’s needs were met.

2.    Mr Gibbens invited the Committee to speak to him directly with regards to specific contract issues and he would ensure that Contract Monitoring items were brought to future meetings of the Committee.

3.    RESOLVED that the decision proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, to

a)    enter into market engagement with the aim to procure new contracts for care homes for People with a Learning Disability, People with a Physical Disability and People with Mental Health Needs; and

b)    delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, or other nominated officer to, undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision,

be endorsed.

To receive a report which sets out a position statement for Adult Social Care and Health regarding equality and diversity work and progress on equality objectives for 2017/18.

Akua Agyepong (Corporate Lead, Equality and Diversity) and Michael Thomas-Sam (Strategic Business Advisor – Social Care) were in attendance for this item

1.    Michael Thomas-Sam introduced the report whichset out a position statement for Adult Social Care and Health regarding equality and diversity work and progress on equality objectives for 2017/18. Akua Agyepong referred to the corporate policy context within the report and provided an update on the progress that had been made.

a)    In response to a question, Anne Tidmarsh said that although it had proved challenging to recruit staff who were under the age of 25, Adult Social Care had been focusing on the carer workforce specifically and targeting schools and the NHS to promote careers in social care.

b)    In response to a question, Akua Agyepong said that a report could be brought to a future meeting of the Committee in relation to Domestic Abuse.

c)    In response to a question, Penny Southern said that specific, targeted work had been undertaken to ensure that providers used the extra money that had been invested in home care appropriately.

2.    RESOLVED that report be noted.

To receive a report which provides Members with progress against targets set for key performance and activity indicators for April 2018 for Adult Social Care.

Steph Smith (Head of Performance ? Information Management) was in attendance for this item

1.    Steph Smith introduced the report which set out the progress against targets set for key performance and activity indicators for April 2018 for Adult Social Care.

a)    In response to a question, Steph Smith talked about the figure within the report relating to Kent and Medway Partnership Trust – Delayed Transfers of Care and said that the reasoning behind the low figure was being investigated further.

b)    In response to a question, Steph Smith said that the targets within the report were set by Kent County Council and were based on demand, population demand, the trend in the service over the last year, and the budget.

2.    RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To receive a report from General Counsel on the committee’s work programme.

1.    RESOLVED that the Work Programme for 2018/19 be noted.