Agenda item

1.          The Chairman welcomed Mrs Bell to her first meeting of the Committee as Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health.

2.          Clair Bell (Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    New role – Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

Mrs Bell took over the role of Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health from Mr Gibbens on 20^th May 2019. Mrs Bell said that although there were challenging times ahead within Adult Social Care and Health in Kent, she was looking forward to the exciting developments ahead which would transform both the way the county worked in providing social services, but would also bring benefits to Kent’s residents, with the support of her colleagues and officers.

b)   ‘Kent Excellence in Business’ Awards

Mrs Bell attended the Kent Excellence in Business Awards on 20^th June 2019 at the Kent Event Centre in Detling. The event was partly sponsored by Kent County Council and awards were handed out to a variety of businesses across Kent. The event featured a category for Valuing Disability Business of the Year. Mrs Bell talked about the positive work that had been undertaken by Kent Supported Employment in offering a range of specialist services for individuals with learning disabilities and Special Educational Needs, working with training providers and employers to help them to understand the needs of their workers with disabilities and offering training to staff.

c)    Local Government Association Annual Conference and Exhibition

Mrs Bell attended the Local Government Association Annual Conference and Exhibition in Bournemouth from 2^nd July to 4^th July 2019. An area of the conference venue was dedicated to an Innovation Zone where local authorities and other groups held presentations on innovative projects that they had piloted. Mrs Bell said that Adult Social Care featured heavily at the conference and talked about a beneficial project that was presented at the conference which related to tackling social isolation through digital inclusion, which equipped elderly people and individuals with disabilities with a customised tablet device and ongoing support to enable them to connect with friends and family, contact their carer, watch videos and play games and puzzles.

3.          Penny Southern (Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health), gave a verbal update on the following issues:

a)    Welcome to the new Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health and thanks to the former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

Mrs Southern welcomed Mrs Bell in her capacity as Cabinet Member of Adult Social Care and Public Health and thanked Mr Gibbens, former Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, for his support and commitment to the role over the years.

b)   Health and Social Care Integration

Mrs Southern talked about the significant changes that were taking place within health and social care and the impact that the changes would have on Kent’s residents and Kent’s adult social care services. Discussions were taking place between Kent County Council, NHS England and the local health economy to drive changes and possess a comprehensive, seamless service in relation to health and social care. Mrs Southern referred to the informative paper which related to the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System, presented to County Council on the 23^rd of May 2019, and the report and presentation which related to transforming health and social care in Kent and Medway, presented to the Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee on 20^th June 2019, and confirmed that the presentation slides would be sent to Committee Members.

c)    KCC’s Adult Social Care and Health Directorate redesign

The first phase of the Adult Social Care and Health directorate redesign had been completed and an overview page was accessible via KNet which set out information relating to the redesign and highlighted the individual’s that were leading the changes that were happening for both Adult Social Care and the integration with Health. The second phase of the redesign had started which involved reviewing and finalising Adult Social Care and Health’s senior leadership team. Mrs Southern confirmed that the finalised top-tier structure would be submitted to Members through a future Personnel Committee meeting or Adult Social Care Cabinet Committee meeting. Mrs Southern talked about the future of the 0-25 disability service and said that although the service transition over to the Children, Young People and Education directorate from the Adult Social Care and Health directorate in order to deliver the outcomes from the recent Ofsted/CQC inspection, she would still have a key leading role in the transition.

d)   Future workforce arrangements within Adult Social Care and Health

Mrs Southern emphasised the importance of investing in the workforce going forward and talked about a valuable presentation which had been presented at a recent Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) event. The presentation had been created by social work students who had completed their first year in practice.

e)    Kent Integrated Care Alliance (KICA) Annual Conference

Mrs Southern attended and presented at the well-attended KICA annual conference on 22^nd May 2019, the feedback received in relation to the event was very positive. Mrs Southern talked about Kent County Council’s engagement with the market and the importance of continuing to build a strong working relationship with providers.

4.          In response to a question, Mrs Southern confirmed that Mr Dunkley, Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education, held statutory responsibility of Kent County Council’s 0-25 service. Mrs Southern said that she would ensure that Committee Members were kept up to date in relation to the conversations that were taking place regarding the movement of the 0-25 pathway.

5.          In response to a question relating to the recent Kent and Medway Integrated Care System paper submitted to County Council, Mrs Southern confirmed that the report contained information relating to the partnership between Kent County Council and colleagues in Health in regard to management and direct accountability of Kent’s social workers and the wider care sector.

6.          In response to a question, Mrs Bell referred to the digital inclusion project that had been presented at the recent Local Government Association Annual Conference and Exhibition and confirmed that she would provide further information relating to the project to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting.

7.          In response to a question, Mrs Southern confirmed that the presentation slides relating to transforming health and social care in Kent and Medway, which were presented at a recent Health Reform and Public Health Cabinet Committee meeting, would be provided to Members of the Committee outside of the meeting.

8.          RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted.