Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received by Ms Grehan and there were no substitutes.

Mr Shonk declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 6 - 22/00051 – Bespoke Support Service - as a family member worked for the NHS.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 31 March 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:

(a)  The Adult Social Care Reform White Paper was discussed at the last Cabinet meeting in April 2022 and since then the Leader and Mrs Bell had written to Kent MPs to share their concerns and to ask for their support for adequate funding and in delaying implementation by six months so that changes could come into effect in April 2024, instead of October 2023.  Mrs Bell would arrange for the letter to be circulated after the meeting.

(b)  At the beginning of May 2022 Mrs Penny Cole, Mr Jordan Meade (Deputy Members for Adult Social Care) and Mrs Bell visited the Harmonia Village in Dover which offered homes for up to 30 people living with dementia.  Each resident had their own bedroom, shared kitchen and lounge and the houses were equipped with technology to enable them to live independently. The village had an onsite team of carers and nurses who were available 24 hours a day, a hub for residents and guest rooms for overnight stays. The village was keen to provide local employment, use local services and link in with the local community. In November 2021 the Harmonia Village won the 2020 award for Best Dementia Care Development at the Building Better Healthcare Awards.

(c)  Mental Health Awareness Week took place between 9 and 15 May 2022 and tackled loneliness. Mrs Bell highlighted two support services provided by the Council including Live Well Kent which was a network of community mental health and wellbeing support services managed by charities Porchlight and Shaw Trust, and the Kent Men’s Sheds Programme which was set up to combat loneliness, social isolation, and mental health problems.

2.    Mr Jordan Meade, Deputy Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said he visited Faversham’s Men’s Sheds Project on Friday 13 May 2022 and was impressed by the significant partnership working, particularly with Canterbury Christchurch University who had provided work placements for Occupational Health students. Other areas of partnership working included social prescribing from local GP practices, and the delivery of peer-to-peer support. Mr Meade said users of the Men’s Sheds Project said the project had turned their lives around and Mr Meade encouraged Members to visit the Kent Sheds’ website - Mens sheds | Kent Sheds | Kent.

3.    Mrs Bell and Mr Meade responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked whether there were any plans to expand Harmonia Village, Mrs Bell said the project had been driven by individuals following a visit to the Netherlands and Belgium, and they hoped to be able to expand the project within Kent in the future.

(b)  Asked if there was an ideal age group for Men’s Sheds, Mr Meade said they welcomed residents of all ages although most were aged 45 or over. Faversham’s Men’s Sheds Project was working hard to encourage younger men to get involved.

(c)  Asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Mr Simon Mitchell, Senior Commissioner, and Ms Xan Brooker, Commissioner were in attendance for this item.

1.    Ms Brooker introduced the report and gave an overview of the current Positive Behavioural Support Framework and the options for the procurement of a new four-year open Bespoke Support Service Framework.  The framework would collaborate with providers from the NHS and Social Care.

2.    Mr Mitchell and Ms Brooker responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about specific needs of individuals and whether specialist charities were included within the framework, Mr Mitchell said the open framework would allow the flexibility to approach relevant providers to deliver a required service and the number of providers would not be restricted.

(b)  Asked about the financial implications, and current and future costs for the Council, Ms Brooker said the service was being developed around individual needs and was joint funded by the NHS. The costs had been aggregated and sometimes were in favour of the NHS and sometimes of the local authority. Services were being developed in line with the strategic framework.

(c)  Asked whether the Cabinet Committee would be informed of the financial effect and benefits of recommissioning the service, Mr Mitchell said these were individual bespoke packages of care and it would be difficult to provide information on each one to the Cabinet Committee. Mrs Bell said more information would be provided to the Cabinet Committee at an appropriate time.

(d)  Asked about the current number of people receiving the service and how this had changed since the report was written, Ms Brooker said there were 65 inpatients aged over 18, of that number 21 were aged between 18 and 25 and 44 were aged over 25.

(e)  Asked whether there would be opportunities for providers within the arts sector, Ms Brooker said a benefit of an open framework was that it removed categorisation of people and provided a needs led partnership based approach which invited providers to collaborate.

(f)   Members expressed concerns that an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) had not yet been undertaken for the new service. Ms Dene said an EIA was in place for the existing service and the new EIA would be completed alongside the recommissioning process. Mr Thomas-Sam said the service was currently in a development phase and the EIA would be completed after the committee had endorsed the commencement to develop a new framework. Mrs Bell said the decision to award contracts would come back to the committee along with a completed EIA.

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

(a)          Approve the procurement for a new Bespoke Support Service for people with complex needs; and

(b)          Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health and Corporate Director Children Young People and Education to take other relevant actions, including but not limited to finalising the terms of and entering into required contracts or other legal agreements, as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

Mr Michael Thomas-Sam, Strategic Business Advisor Adult Social Care and Ms Michelle Goldsmith, Finance Business Partner Adult Social Care, were in attendance for this item. 

1.    Ms Goldsmith introduced the report and said an amendment to the Adult Social Care Charging Policy was required to comply with the primary legislation. This was due to conflicting statutory guidance which may have been issued by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).  Ms Goldsmith said an Officer Decision had been taken to revise the application of the Charging Policy for new clients.

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

(a)  Asked about the process for refunding or recharging residents who had been affected, Ms Goldsmith said this decision looked specifically at repaying individuals where the Council was aware an overcharge had been made. There was the possibility that some residents may have been undercharged and, in that event, a secondary proposal would be developed at the appropriate time.  

(b)  Members discussed taking the issue forward with the Department of Health and Social Care in due course.

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

(a)          Approve the amended Adult Social Care Charging Policy;

(b)          Approve the funding arrangements required to implement the updated policy;

(c)          Delegate authority to the Corporate Director Adult Social Care and Health to take relevant actions, including keeping the policy updated as necessary and to implement it in line the statutory duties; and

(d)          Note the Officer Decision taken to revise the application of the Charging Policy for new clients.

be endorsed.

Mr Chris McKenzie, Director North and West Kent, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr McKenzie introduced the report which reviewed the effectiveness of the Adult Social Care Pressures Plan 2021-2022. Mr McKenzie highlighted the challenges the Council had faced since the plan was produced and these included the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union exit and unpredictable events such as the fuel crisis in September 2021 and the storms Eunice and Franklin in February 2022.  Good planning and robust business continuity arrangements meant the mechanisms within the plan were used effectively. The most significant pressure was the impact on workforce and the national challenge of attracting and retaining a workforce in adult social care that met required needs.

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

(a)  Asked for information about the Local Resilience Forum, Member involvement and how objectives would be monitored, Mr Beale said he would circulate information to Members.

(b)  Asked about the waiting list weekly average increase of 46 to 400 per week for the Care and Support in the Home services, Mr McKenzie said this reflected the challenges in relation to the workforce situation and recruiting and retaining staff. Regular assurance arrangements made sure directors had oversight of the actions being taken to reduce waiting times.

(c)  Asked about the presentation of metrics within the report and the final financial outturns, Mr McKenzie said consistency of metrics would be considered for future reports so services could be quantified. Information regarding financial outturns would be provided to the committee in due course. Mr McKenzie informed Members that the significant funding received from the NHS for additional support and services for 2021-22 would not be available for the current year, 2022-2023.

(d)  Asked about skills-based recruitment and retention, and engagement with schools and colleges, Mr McKenzie said details regarding engagement with educational establishments would come back to the Cabinet Committee and partnership working to develop a joint workforce for the future was one of the priorities of the Integrated Care System.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

Mr Matt Chatfield, Head of Performance and Systems, was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Chatfield provided an overview of the key activity and performance during Quarter 4 for 2021/22 and introduced the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for 2022/2023.

2.    Mr Chatfield and Mr Beale responded to comments and questions from the committee, including the following:

(a)  Asked about ASC9 – Proportion of complaints upheld (upheld and partially upheld) – Mr Beale said Directors had oversight of upheld complaints and lessons learnt were identified to inform practice changes to processes and pathways. A Member asked whether the actual numbers could be recorded along with the percentage.

(b)  Asked about the downwards trend of the Kent Enablement at Home indicator Mr Beale said the benefits of the recruitment process would take time to be reflected.  Innovative ideas were being explored including joint posts with health to develop the professional route.  A Member asked for an update on the work of Kent Enablement at Home to be brought to the committee. 

(c)  Asked about the process for setting KPI percentages and floor targets, Mr Chatfield said targets were set by looking at trend analysis, benchmarking against national averages and Council priorities.  Further information regarding this was circulated to Members after the meeting.

(d)  A Member asked whether a narrative explanation could be included for KPIs where significant decreases or increases in trend had occurred. 

RESOLVED that the performance of services in Q4 2021/22 and the new suite of Performance Measures for 2022 onwards be noted.

All meetings will begin at 2pm and be held in the Council Chamber, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ.

Wednesday 28 September 2022

Thursday 17 November 2022

Wednesday 11 January 2023

Wednesday 15 March 2023

Wednesday 17 May 2023

Thursday 6 July 2023

RESOLVED that the future meeting dates be noted.

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2022/23 be noted.