Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Ms Meade and Ms Wright.  Mr Brady was present as a substitute for Ms Meade.

Mr Streatfeild declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 7 - 22/00034 – External Community Opportunities for People with Learning and Physical Disabilities – and said a family member was in receipt of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2022 are correctly recorded and a paper copy be signed by the Chairman. 

1.    The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Mrs Clair Bell, gave a verbal update on the following, about which there were no questions.

(a)  The first Kent Care Summit took place on 2 March 2022 at the Kent Event Centre and was attended by over 300 people. Mrs Bell thanked Gina Walton and her team for a well organised and successful event. The Leader of the Council opened the Summit and a panel of local and national representatives including the Director General for Adult Social Care, the Chief Executive of the Kent and Medway NHS Integrated Care Board and Head of Inspection at The Care Quality Commission (CQC) took questions on a variety of issues. Three main themes emerged from the summit including support for carers, putting the person at the centre, and workforce recruitment and retention. A follow-up virtual workshop was held on 23 March 2022 and a workshop was scheduled for 21 April 2022 to co-develop the summit ideas into actions.

(b)  Mrs Bell visited the Tenterden Wellbeing Social Prescribing Centre on 18 March 2022.  The Centre provided visitors with information on local support and community organisations and operated a local scheme for distributing food and household items.  Private rooms were available for conversations with a member of the social prescribing team.

(c)  Mrs Bell and the Leader of the Council attended the Healthwatch Recognition Awards in Ashford on 31 March 2022. The categories covered a range of health and social care services and recognised the efforts made by hospital trusts, social care and the voluntary sector.

(d)  The Virtual Dementia Tour Bus would be outside Sessions House on 13 July 2022 and Members should contact Mrs Bell’s office to reserve a space. 

2.    The Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, Mr Richard Smith, then gave a verbal update on the following: 

(a)  Mr Smith and members of his team attended a social services event at the Kent Ambassadors in Whitstable on 15 March 2022 and presented an item on adult social care.

(b)  Mr Smith was pleased to report that the Council had won a silver Public Sector Transformation Award for engagement and communication. Lisa Clinton and her team had also won an award for the development of the people’s voice and how local people were involved in developing and delivering services.

(c)  The operational and commissioning teams were focusing on the Social Care Reform and four areas had been prioritised - cost of care, the care cap, CQC assurance and the arrangement of care by the Local Authority.

(d)  Mr Smith was pleased to welcome Jim Beale, Director for East Kent, to the Adult Social Care Senior Leadership Team.

RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.

Ms Melanie Anthony, Senior Commissioner, and Ms Heather Randle, Commissioner were in attendance for this item.

1.    Ms Anthony introduced the report and gave an overview of the Community Mental Health Wellbeing Service (also known as Live Well Kent) and the commissioning process. 

2.    Ms Anthony and Ms Randle responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about Medway Council’s involvement in the service Ms Anthony said this related to the helpline in that area and the expansion would be met by Medway Clinical Commissioning Group.

(b)  Asked about the integration of the service with the Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and how increased demand would affect those currently on the waiting list, Ms Anthony said the proposal to include the 14-35 year old Early Intervention for Psychosis Service was in addition to the CAMHS service. A member asked for information on how the Early Intervention for Psychosis Service would work in practice to come to a future Cabinet Committee.

(c)  Asked whether the statistics of residents in Kent experiencing mental health problems included those with long covid or Ukrainian refugees Ms Randle said Live Well Kent was an open access service for anyone experiencing mental health problems and the contract could be varied if deemed appropriate to deliver newly identified services.

(d)  Asked about the personal needs of service users and how their voices were being heard, Ms Randle said service user involvement ran throughout the service and service users designed the Live Well Kent identity and brand.  The service was personalised and could be adapted and delivered against the needs of its users. 

(e)  Asked whether funding was sufficient to cover the service in its entirety considering increased future demand, Ms Anthony said the work on the wider transformation programme would ensure funding was available.  

RESOLVED that the decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health to:

a)        Commence joint commissioning activity for a Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Service; and

b)        Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision

be endorsed.

Mr Simon Mitchell, Senior Commissioner, was in attendance for this item. 

1.    Mr Mitchell introduced the report and gave an overview of the proposed service.

(a)  Asked whether the financial saving would affect service quality and future complex care prevention Mr Smith said significant savings were necessary to sustain the Adult Social Care Service and statutory services had to be protected as a priority. The Making a Difference Everyday (MADE) strategy was focusing on local communities and businesses to support people in different ways and prevent individuals accessing more expensive services. Mr Smith said assessed needs were met in a variety of ways through the Council’s statutory duties and responsibilities under the Care Act 2014.

(b)  Asked about the impact on service users Mr Smith said a benefits realisation programme of work would look at the outputs for users and future reports to the Cabinet Committee would look at the positive impacts of the service on residents.

(c)  Asked about the forecast spending being lower than the allocated budget Mr Mitchell said the forecast was lower than the budget at present as it was still impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic with several services still closed or with limited accessibility.

(d)  Mr McKenzie said, in addition to the commissioned services, the ambition was to give young adults with learning disabilities more choice and control on how they access support in the community by way of increased self-directed support and direct payments.

(e)  Asked about the breadth of self-directed support available Mr McKenzie said this depended on the local community and involved local businesses and communities interested in supporting individuals with learning difficulties in meeting their needs. 

(f)   Mr Mitchell said the groups of people who would access the service included adults in general and work with the children’s services ensured a smooth transition and alignment in support into 16-25 year old and adults services.

RESOLVED that the decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health to:

(a)  Approve the procurement for External Community Opportunities for People with Learning and Physical Disabilities; and

(b)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health and Corporate Director Children Young People and Education to take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of entering into required contracts of other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision

be endorsed.

Mr Streatfield, Mr Shonk and Mr Campkin asked for their votes against the recommendation to be noted in the minutes. 

Mr Michael Thomas-Sam, Strategic Business Adviser Social Care, Ms Lisa Clinton, Stakeholder Engagement Manager and Mr Simon Mitchell, Senior Commissioning Manager were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Thomas-Sam introduced the report and highlighted the key areas of the Carers’ Strategy. Mr Thomas-Sam thanked the Members of the Cabinet Committee who took part in the Member co-production meetings.

2.    Mr Thomas-Sam, Ms Clinton and Mr Mitchell responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about the survey Ms Clinton said there had been 387 responses in total and extensive engagement and co-production had taken place in advance of the consultation.

(b)  Mr Thomas-Sam said progress monitoring and reporting would form part of regular reports to the Cabinet Committee. The Corporate Director would have the delegated authority to review the strategy mid-way through to ensure relevant factors were reflected before the end of the 5-year programme.

(c)  Asked about reaching out to hidden carers Mr Thomas-Sam said the government had set out a plan to ensure improved data quality and profiling on individuals would inform what could be done locally.

(d)  Asked about strategy resources Mr Smith said changes within Adult Social Care required the development of a delivery plan and re-prioritising and realigning budgets. Carers needed timely responses, access to information and inexpensive services. The strategy was the starting point of the process and would constantly be under review.

RESOLVED that the decision to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health to:

(a)  Adopt the Kent Adult Carers Strategy 2022 to 2027;

(b)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to refresh and/or make revisions as appropriate during the lifetime of the strategy; and

(c)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to take relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contract or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the objectives of the Kent Adult Carers Strategy

be endorsed.

Mr Michael Thomas-Sam, Strategic Business Adviser Social Care was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Thomas-Sam provided an overview of the Adult Social Care Reform White Paper and presented a series of slides (attached to these minutes).

2.    Mr Thomas-Sam responded to comments and questions from the Cabinet Committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about ensuring residents received the right information Mr Thomas-Sam said it was important to reach out to those not known by social services and to provide examples of what the reform would mean for individuals based on their circumstances and resources. A Transforming Adult Social Care website had gone live nationally, and a local equivalent would be developed with providers and NHS partners.

(b)  Members discussed the importance of promoting apprenticeships and future career options for young people working within the health and social care sector. Mr McKenzie noted the challenges in the current recruitment market and said innovative approaches were required to focus on the benefits and rewards of working within the health and social sector and the opportunities for progression.  Working with health partner organisations would provide different types of opportunities for example joint apprenticeships in both health and social care.

(c)  Members welcomed the suggestion of an All Member Briefing on the reform.

RESOLVED that the presentation on the Adult Social Care Reform White Paper be noted.

Ms Helen Gillivan, Head of ASCH Business Delivery Unit, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Ms Gillivan introduced the report and gave an overview of the strategic risks relating to the Adult Social Care and Health directorate and highlighted the two Adult Social Care risks on the Corporate Risk Register.

2.    Ms Gillivan responded to comments and questions from the committee including the following:

(a)  Asked how the financial saving from the External Community Opportunities for People with Learning and Physical Disabilities contract contributed to an increase in risk Mr McKenzie said the risks related to the safeguarding of vulnerable adults and the risk was high due to pressures in the market and recruiting the right staff into the workforce.

(b)  Asked about cyber security and the security of providers’ and the Council’s IT systems Ms Gillivan said this was reviewed regularly and the Adult Social Care internal system had been transferred to a new hosting system which provided more assurance around the security of data. 

RESOLVED that the Risk Management: Adult Social Care and Health report be noted.

Ms Helen Groombridge, Adult Social Care and Health, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Ms Groombridge introduced the report and gave an overview of the 5 targeted Key Performance Indicators for the Council’s Adult Social Care and Health services. 

2.    Ms Groombridge, Mr McKenzie, and Mr Smith responded to questions and comments from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about direct payments as a KPI Mr McKenzie said the Council’s strategic ambition was for people to access more self-directed support and it was necessary to be ambitious about direct payments to achieve better and more cost-effective outcomes for people.

(b)  Asked about ASC15 - The number of people accessing ASCH Services who have a Mental Health need, whether it would continue to stabilise and the factors that could initiate an increase in demand Ms Groombridge said the figures were increasing prior to the pandemic but at a slower rate than during the pandemic. The early indication was that the number was stabilising.

RESOLVED that the Adult Social Care Performance Report for Q2 2021/22 be noted.

Mrs Bell gave an overview of the decision and explained why this had been taken outside of the Cabinet Committee meeting cycle.

RESOLVED that the decision - 22/00019 – Kara Contract Extension - had been taken in accordance with the process as set out in Part 2 paragraph 12.35 of the Constitution.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2022 be noted.