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  • Agenda and minutes
  • Agenda and minutes

    Venue: Online

    Contact: Theresa Grayell  03000 416172

    Media

    Items
    No. Item

    36.

    Apologies and Substitutes

    Minutes:

    Apologies for absence had been received from Mr Meade and Mr Webb.  Mr Jeffery was present as a substitute for Mr Meade.

    37.

    Declarations of Interest by Members in items on the agenda

    Minutes:

    There were no declarations of interest.

    38.

    Minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2021 pdf icon PDF 229 KB

    Minutes:

    1.    Mr Streatfield asked for his requests to the Director for further information regarding funding sources for years three, four and five for proposed decisions 21/00105 - Technology Enabled Care Build and Test - and 21/00106 - Development of Micro Provider Market in Kent - be recorded in the minutes. 

     

    2.    It was highlighted that there was further information to be provided under Item 34.1.b - Adult Social Care and Covid – Lessons Learned so far - which had not yet been provided to the Cabinet Committee Members. 

     

    3.    It was RESOLVED that, subject to the above change, the minutes of the meeting held on 1 December 2021 are correctly recorded and a paper copy be signed by the Chairman when this can be done safely. 

    39.

    Verbal Updates by Cabinet Member and Corporate Director

    Minutes:

    1.    The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Mrs Clair Bell, gave a verbal update on the Kent Adult Carers’ Strategy 2022-2027 and said the public consultation on the strategy was launched on 12 January 2022 and would run to 22 February 2022. The strategy was closely aligned to the Council’s wider Adult Social Care Strategy consulted on in 2021 and had been developed in collaboration with carers, carers organisations and other public sector partners including the NHS and district councils. Mrs Bell thanked everyone who had taken part in the workshops and encouraged all residents to provide feedback to help inform the delivery of the strategy.

     

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

     

    Operation Reset – The Council was working in collaboration with the NHS to support the flow from hospitals into the community. A joint commissioning management group had been established to agree initiatives with the NHS, and hospital trusts supported by Council staff had been running discharge events. Mr Smith acknowledged the work of the Council’s commissioning and operational teams who had been working with the NHS to maintain movement from hospital into home settings wherever possible.

     

    Covid-19 Infection Control Funding - The Council received around £87million in funding between April 2020 and March 2022 for infection control, rapid testing and vaccinations, and recruitment and retention. The Council had also been notified of an Adult Social Care Omicron Support Fund which was announced in January 2022.

     

    Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspections and the Care Cap – CQC would be responsible for assessing local authority delivery of adult social care duties and the CQC framework was expected to be published in April 2022, to go live in April 2023. The care cap would come into force in October 2023.

     

    3.    It was RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.

    40.

    Advocacy Hub Extension and Commissioning pdf icon PDF 154 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Ms Xan Brooker, Senior Commissioner, was in attendance for this item.

     

    1.    Ms Brooker introduced the report and said the Kent Advocacy Hub contract delivered statutory functions under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the Mental Health Act 2007, the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Care Act 2014.  There was also a non-statutory element to deliver a community learning disability advocacy service for people aged 16 and over.

     

    2.    Asked about the delay in extending the contract Ms Brooker said more understanding of the Covid-19 pandemic had been required and the delay to the publication of the Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice had meant determining the full service requirements was not possible.

     

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

     

    a)    Approve a flexible extension to the current Advocacy Services Contract for up to 12 months from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2023;

     

    b)    Undertake market engagement in partnership with Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group and Medway Council to procure a new Advocacy Services Contract; and

     

    c)    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.

    41.

    Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Mental Health Assessments Contract Extension and Transition to Liberty Protection Safeguards pdf icon PDF 227 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Mr Robert Underwood, Adult Social Care Project Manager, and Ms Maureen Stirrup, Head of Service - Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DOLS) County Team, were in attendance for this item. 

     

    1.    Ms Stirrup introduced the report and said it was necessary for the current arrangements with South East Memory Assessment Services to be extended for a further year to 31 March 2023.  It was expected that the Liberty Protection Safeguards Code of Practice would be made public in summer 2022 and would provide the detail required to enable a new contract to be let to cover any requirements post 31 March 2023.

     

    2.    Asked about the consultation process Ms Stirrup said it would last for 12 weeks and Ms Meade expressed her interest in being part of the consultation.

     

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

     

    a)    Extend the current contract with South East Memory Assessment Services for 12 months from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023, by means of a Written Justification for Exemption from the Normal Contract Procedure; and

    b)    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 contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision; and

    c)    Consider and note the planned implementation of Liberty Protection Safeguards as a replacement to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards,

     

    be endorsed.

    42.

    Care Home Contracts for People with a Learning Disability, People with a Physical Disability and People with Mental Health Needs pdf icon PDF 381 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Ms Andrea Martin, Commissioner, was in attendance for this item.

     

    1.    Ms Martin introduced the report and provided a summary of the recent procurement activity. 

     

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

     

    (a)  Asked about the financial risk to the Council and the risk of disruption to individuals already within a care home, Ms Martin said people on all services, that tender successfully for the contract, would transfer onto the new contract and work had been carried out to ascertain the financial impact and sustainability of providers so that people would remain in their current care homes.

     

    (b)  Asked about people being placed out of county and away from their support groups and families, Ms Martin said where an appropriate service could not be sourced within Kent operational colleagues would have to look at out of county placements.

     

    (c)  Asked about market engagement with family members and users of the service, Ms Martin said users, families, organisations, and operational colleagues were consulted during the development of the new specification.

     

    (d)  Asked how services would cope with the rise in mental health problems and identified learning difficulties, Ms Martin said she expected more people to be accessing supported living providers. In terms of people with more complex needs the market was being encouraged to improve and develop more services and a Dynamic Purchasing Agreement had been put in place.

     

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

     

    a)    Award contracts to provide residential care for People with a Learning Disability, People with a Physical Disability and People with Mental Health Needs to the successful bidders as identified following a procurement process and detailed in exempt appendix 1; and

     

    b)    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 contracts or other legal agreements, as necessary to implement the decision.

     

    be endorsed.

    43.

    Community Based Wellbeing Services and Carers’ Short Breaks Contracts pdf icon PDF 462 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

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

     

    1.    Mr Mitchell introduced the report and updated the committee on the remaining new contracts for Community Based Wellbeing Services and said the Carers’ Short Breaks Contract was a further direct award for one year to allow time for development of the Adult Carers Strategy.

     

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

     

    (a)  Asked how the Dementia Coordinator Service would enhance the dementia services already provided Mr Mitchell said it was a new bespoke service where newly diagnosed patients were assigned a coordinator to help them, and their families, navigate through different parts of the health and social care system.

     

    (b)  Asked whether voluntary organisations would be included within the contract, Mr Mitchell said there had been extensive engagement to ensure organisations worked together to deliver future contracts. Mr Mitchell said the Council had made clear to lead organisations during the tender process they were not expected to deliver the full breadth of the contract and were expected to work in partnership with other organisations. 

     

    (c)  Asked for clarification on the total figure for Lot 9 – Post Diagnostic Support Services in the Community for People with Dementia and their Families in North Kent – on page 168 in the Agenda Reports Pack, Mr Mitchel confirmed later on in the meeting that the 5 year total should have read £1,240,000 and not £2,821,500.

     

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

     

    a)    Approve the Direct award of a year contract until 31 March 2023 for the provision of Carers’ Short Breaks;

     

    b)    Approve the contract awards (as detailed in the exempt appendices 1 and 2) for the provision of Community Based Wellbeing Services funded by Kent County Council for a period of three years with the option to extend for further periods of up to two years, and Dementia Coordinator Services funded by the NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group and Kent County Council for a period of two years; and

     

    c)    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 subject to the following abstentions:

     

    Ms Meade asked for her abstention to be noted. Mr Campkin asked for his abstention to be noted pending the correct 5 year total mentioned under 2(c) above.

    44.

    Draft Ten Year Capital Programme, Revenue Budget 2022-23 and Medium Term Financial Plan 2022-25 pdf icon PDF 197 KB

    Minutes:

    1.    The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services, Mr Oakford, introduced the report published on 5 January 2022 and said the 2022-23 and medium-term budget proposals had been developed against the background of considerable uncertainty and volatility.  The capital programme had been enhanced to show a 10-year horizon covering 2022-32 which would ensure a more realistic capital programme with less slippage.  Mr Oakford said it was vital that additional borrowing was minimised to avoid unaffordable pressure on the revenue budget. Mr Oakford said the Council was required to set a balanced revenue budget for the forthcoming year (2022-23) which meant the net spending should equal the available funding raised from council tax precept, retained business rates growth and grant settlement from central government.  Mr Oakford said the Council was facing exceptional spending demands for the forthcoming year from a combination of the longer term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic which had significantly changed demands and costs for key services leading to additional spending associated with latent demand, increasing complexity, and changes in social and working lives, as well as economic impact from rising inflation.

     

    2.    Mrs Bell said in terms of revenue, the Adult Social Care Budget would receive an additional £15.3million in Social Care Support Grant and a £1.5million increase from the Improved Better Care Fund.  The 1% Social Care Levy equated to roughly £8million, and the new £4.2million grant for social care was ring fenced for charging reforms.  The Adult Social Care and Health base budget for the current year was set at just over £402million and would rise to £434 million. In terms of growth the main pressures included increased cost on activity across all services, price increases for care packages, increased client numbers and additional complexity of new and existing clients. Mrs Bell said savings had been identified from the Making a Difference Everyday strategy, the strategic review of inhouse services and the proposed review of existing contracts for commissioned services. The total savings identified for 2022-2023 was £19.5million. Mrs Bell said it had been necessary to look at areas of non-statutory historical spend to make additional savings and reluctantly the draft budget proposed not renewing two contracts for housing related support with a value of £5million.

     

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

     

    (a)  Members acknowledged the difficulty of decisions and commented that a cut in the budget would fall on those most vulnerable in society and greater demand would result in services being spread more thinly.

     

    (b)  Mrs Bell said within the re-design of social care alternative ways of delivering services was being investigated for example, working better with the NHS and the voluntary sector, other types of providers i.e. micro-providers, and the use of technology.

     

    (c)  Mr Oakford said council tax was being raised by 2% and the social care precept by 1% which was the maximum possible rise in taxes without the need for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

    45.

    Adult Social Care Performance Report pdf icon PDF 311 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

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

     

    1.    Mr Chatfield introduced the report and highlighted the key areas of performance.

     

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

     

    (a)  Asked about the amber target ASC2 – Proportion of clients receiving Direct Payment – Mr McKenzie said the target was deliberately ambitious and set above the national average to encourage and challenge the work around direct payments with the aim of giving people more choice and control over their lives.

     

    (b)  Asked about ASC3 – The proportion of adults with a learning disability who live in their own home or with their family -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      and whether it should be split to understand how many are living independently and how many with parents, Mr Chatfield said it was a national indicator and could not be split, with the intention of identifying those in residential or nursing care. Mr Smith acknowledged the importance of supporting family members who were carers to avoid them reaching a crisis point, and the transition into independent living and settled accommodation.

     

    3.    It was RESOLVED that the Adult Social Care Performance Report for Q2 2021/22 was noted.

    46.

    Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report pdf icon PDF 418 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Ms Debra Davidson, Customer Care and Complaints Manager for Adult Social Care Customer Service Delivery Unit, and Ms Pascale Blackburn-Clarke, Customer Experience and Relationship Manager, were in attendance for this item.

     

    1.    Ms Davidson introduced the report and gave a summary of the operation of the Adult Social Care and Health Complaints and Representations’ Procedure between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021.  For the year 2020/2021 754 complaints had been received and represented 1% of people who had received a service from Adult Social Care.

     

    2.    Ms Davidson and Ms Blackburn-Clarke responded to comments and questions from the committee including the following:

     

    (a)  Asked about the delay in receiving the report Ms Davidson said the Ombudsman data was received in July 2021 following which the data was reconciled and the report finalised in November 2021.

     

    (b)  Asked whether there was an alternative way of providing feedback or advice without the need for a formal complaint, Ms Davidson said 242 informal concerns had been received and were resolved within a short period of time outside of the formal complaints process.

     

    (c)  Asked whether communication complaints were being reviewed Ms Davidson said communication was recognised as an important part of their work and the unit enforced that message with operational teams.

     

    (d)  Asked about the 20 working days complaint period Ms Blackburn-Clarke said 20 working days was a corporate standard set by the Council and this length of time was required due to the complexity of a lot of complaints.

     

    3.    It was RESOLVED that the contents of the Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report be noted.

    47.

    Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Annual Report pdf icon PDF 236 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    Mr Andrew Rabey, Chair of the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board, was in attendance for this item

     

    1.    Mr Rabey introduced the report and said it covered the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and touched upon the roles and responsibilities within the board, the impact that covid had on the delivery of safeguarding and the response of the safeguarding board to that.  Mr Rabey talked about the strategic plan, safeguarding adult reviews which were an important part of the board’s work, and safeguarding referrals.

     

    2.    Asked about the easy-to-read version Mr Rabey said this was currently in the process of being commissioned and Mr Rabey would send it to committee members when it was available.

     

    3.    It was RESOLVED that the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2020 – 2021 be noted.

    48.

    Social Prescribing and Care Navigation pdf icon PDF 702 KB

    Minutes:

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

     

    1.    Mr Mitchell presented a series of slides (attached to these minutes) which set out the meaning of Care Navigation and Social Prescribing and the various routes of referral and signposting for support.  Mr Mitchell gave an overview of the Council’s Positive Wellbeing Service, spoke about the role of Primary Care Link Workers, and highlighted the current and future provision of Care Navigation and Social Prescribing.

     

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

     

    (a)  Asked about partnerships, the sharing of best practice, and whether WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) was a partner Mr Mitchell said he would investigate this and report back to the committee. 

     

    (b)  Asked whether there was a fee for classes, Mr Mitchell said it depended on the nature of the class, the needs of the person and what was available within the community.

     

    (c)  Asked about the availability of outdoor events Mr Mitchell said services were evolving to suit the needs of the person and he gave an example of a case study where an isolated gentlemen had joined a cycling club and was able to take part in and enjoy regular assisted bike activities. 

     

    (d)  Asked about GP referrals, Mr Mitchell said the Primary Care Link Workers and some of the Care Navigators were linked to GP surgeries enabling referrals to be made where the need for social support had been identified.

     

    (e)  Asked whether any services linked in with heritage, the arts and music Mr Mitchell said the West Kent Community Wellbeing Service had museums and nature organisations that were engaged in delivering activities.

     

    (f)    Asked whether links had been made with Community Learning and Skills (CLS) Mr Mitchell said he had been working with colleagues across the Council regarding this and he would report back to the committee.

     

    3.    Mrs Bell said recommendations had been refreshed, following a Loneliness and Social Isolation Select Committee in 2019, to include working with the NHS on a social prescribing strategy.  Information about this would come to a future meeting of the Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee.

     

    4.    It was RESOLVED that the Social Prescribing and Care Navigation presentation be noted.

    49.

    Work Programme pdf icon PDF 256 KB

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    It was RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2021-2022 be noted.