Minutes:
Market Sustainability and Improvement Fund – Mr Watkins said that in July 2023 the Central Government had announced £600 million for Adult Social Care from the fund, of which Kent would receive £10 million. The fund was making the resources available to boost capacity to allow the Council to support the Adult Social Care workforce. Mr Watkins noted that this was most welcome.
Kent and Medway Domestic Abuse Consultation – The 11-week consultation opened in late July. The Council was running the consultation on behalf of the domestic and sexual abuse partnership. Mr Watkins noted that the Kent and Medway Partnership Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2029 set out the new 5-year plan to develop and improve the response to domestic abuse. The strategy aimed to reduce instances of domestic abuse and provide the right to support to victims. It was said that the consultation would be open until 9 October 2023 and Mr Watkins encouraged Members to share link to the online consultation.
Covid-19 vaccination scheme opened – Mr Watkins noted that the Covid-19 vaccination programme had opened and targeted groups would be invited to receive their inoculations, which was important this winter due to the discovery of a new variant of concern. It was noted that the targeted groups were the 65 years and over, residents in care homes, those 6 months - 64 years in a clinical risk group, carers, close contacts of immunosuppressed and frontline health and social care workers. Mr Watkins urged all qualifying residents to book their vaccinations and for Committee Members to raise awareness.
Blue Badge Scheme - It was said that the Council was working with District partners to run enforcement sessions to clamp down on the misuse of the badges. This had been made more important following the expansion of the eligibility criteria and the need to ensure that spaces are reserved only for those who are eligible. Residents were encouraged to report misuse through the Kent County Council website Fraud Prevention. Please find a link here: Fraud Prevention - Kent County Council.
2. In response to comments and questions from Members, it was said.
(a) A Member asked about the domestic abuse consultation and how people would be able to access it if they could not get online. Mr Watkins and Ms Agyepong said that there had been lots of outreach work to victims and survivors both directly and through partners, the feedback would be used to update and inform the strategy. Richard Smith a more substantive item down the line may be useful.
(b) Asked for more information on the Kent Care Summit and the Council plan going forward. Mr Richard Smith suggested a substantive item be brought to a future committee meeting where this could be discussed.
(c) A Member asked for more transparency on the savings being made across the directorate, as a part of committee papers or the verbal updates. Mr Watkins advised Members to view the Cabinet paper ‘Securing Kent’s Future’, which gave further detail on £10 million worth of savings. Mr Watkins agreed that an effort would be made to report back to the committee on savings being made and the progress towards financial targets this year and going forward.
3. The corporate director for Adult Social Care, Mr Richard Smith, gave a verbal update on the following.
Leading in Care Summit – Mr Smith noted that in the previous week, he had attended the summit in association with Newton and the Association for Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). This was a national summit focussed on building resilience in adult social care to meet the financial challenges that the sector was facing and the resilience of the workforce over the forthcoming challenging period of time.
Visit for National Hospital Discharge Team – A task force made up of members of NHS England, Local Government Association and ADASS that worked on health systems under stress over the winter period. A presentation had been given and more information on the outcomes of the meeting would be provided in due course.
Inequality and Diversity Leadership Meeting – The meeting discussed how the team was progressing against their own inequality standards and was attended by 30 senior leadership members. Mr Smith noted that this was an area taken very seriously and an action plan was being worked through.
Staff Engagement – Mr Smith said a whole service live event would be hosted in the forthcoming weeks. The event was an opportunity to meet with all staff and discuss how the service would respond to the ongoing challenges. Mr Smith said that his open-door sessions were continuing to informally meet with frontline staff. It was noted that the two directors, Mr Jim Beale and Mr Mark Albiston, had visited all 24 community teams.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection Preparation – It was said that preparation work was ongoing following social care becoming a regulated service earlier in the year. The CQC had completed their desktop exercises and 5 visits to different local authorities across the country, the outcome of which was expected to be provided soon. In October 2023 the next 20 local authorities to be visited would be known.
4. In response to comments and questions from Members it was said:
(a) A Member asked for further details on the work being done to improve outcomes on hospital discharge. Mr Smith said that they were still waiting on the outcome of a visit from the national taskforce. Following visits to other Local Authorities there would be a detailed action plan, which would be NHS-led, but would be supported by the directorate as and when required.
At the end of this item the Chairman had to leave the meeting. Vice-Chair, Ms Wright, chaired the rest of the meeting.