Agenda item

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing and the Director of Public Health.

Adult Social Care

1.            Mr Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following issues:

20 May - Attended Shared Lives Family Visit at Dungeness Lifeboat Station – meeting people with learning disabilities and their families at this event had been very enlightening.

2 July - Visit to Brockhill Performing Arts College – children and adults aged between 6 and 76 had performed together.

Dementia friends – on 6 July, all Cabinet Members had become Dementia Friends.  This involved committing to training and actions to help and support people coping with dementia.

Backdating of charges for adult social care and support – Mr Gibbens read a statement clarifying that the Department of Health had very recently confirmed that local authorities were permitted to backdate charges on certain conditions from 1 April 2015, when the Care Act came into force. This information had not been available when he had taken a key decision in February 2015 to establish the new charging arrangements which would apply from 1 April 2015, under section 14 of the Care Act 2014. He therefore intended to take a decision allowing backdating for domiciliary and other non-residential care and support.  This would only apply to new clients, from the date on which the decision would come into effect.  Backdating for residential care was already in place.

a)    in response to a question about the scale of charges involved, Ms Grosskopf clarified that the difference in costs to the County Council of not being able to backdate charges would be approximately £250,000 per year; and

b)    Mr Gibbens offered to send more information on the Shared Lives Initiative to one speaker.

2.            Mr Ireland then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Care Act 2014 Phase 2 – there had been no mention of this in the Chancellor’s budget speech, so the expectation was that the planned implementation of phase 2 would be unaffected.  Regulations relating to the changes in April 2016 were expected to be published in October 2016. Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards – the scope of these had been widened and a Law Commission consultation issued, to which the County Council would be making a full response. Primary legislation would be required to address the changes.

a)    in response to a question about the impact upon the social care budget of the latest Care Act changes, he explained that the full costs and impact had yet to be identified.

Adult Public Health

3.            Mr Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following issues:

10 June - Spoke at the Kent Sheds Celebration Event at Riverside Centre, Gravesend – the Sheds project was supported by a cross-section of organisations and had given many people a positive outcome, and the inclusion of men and women was welcomed. Mr Gibbens thanked the Public Health and Adult Social Care officers and staff of KMPT for their work in supporting the project.  

30 June - Spoke at Public Health Champions Celebration Event, Detling Showground – this was part of a campaign to spread the message about the importance of Public Health and health campaigns, eg workplace health and obesity.

4.            Mr A Scott-Clark then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Public Health Champions - partner organisations such as JobCentre Plus and district councils had now formally become public health champions, and those most recently completing a training course had now ‘graduated’.  Maintaining connections with public health Champions in partner organisations would be vital.  He commended the work of the public health workforce development team.

Workplace Health - a scheme of Kent Healthy Business Awards had been launched, with partners in the Chambers of Commerce, district councils, etc, to raise the profile of workplace health, including a target to reduce the level of sickness absence in the workplace.  This had physical and mental health elements.

Campaigns - current campaign activity included guidance about health precautions in a heatwave and support for the Public Health England ’10 minute shake-up’ campaign, aimed at primary school children, to encourage them to keep active in the school holidays. The mobile health check unit would also be attending the County Show on 10 – 12 July.

a)    in response to a question about public health involvement in services for drivers caught up in operation stack, Mr Scott-Clark explained that public health had co-ordinated a multi-agency partner response to distribute food and water to drivers stranded through the heatwave.  The County Council’s emergency planning team had also been involved, with health partners, in ensuring that drivers were able to renew supplies of essential medication while they were stranded.

5.            The verbal updates were noted, with thanks.