Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 20 February 2018 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 20 February 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation that outlined the two corporate performance indicators for Quarter 4 that related to the Sub-Committee.

The report detailed the percentage of users who receive their care via a Direct Payment (DP) as requiring improvement as the indicator was still below target. It was explained that in order to meet the target, the service needed to have at least 708 service users receiving their care via a DP. As at the end of Quarter 4, there were 670 users which equals 95% of the service target.

The Sub-Committee was informed that a working group was reviewing the end to end process to make it quicker and simpler, with the hope that it would improve uptake of Direct Payments.

It was stated that the take-up amongst people with Learning Disability, Mental Health needs, Sensory support needs, Social support needs and memory and cognition issues was actually either stable or slightly up on last year, but a declining trend was noted amongst those with physical support needs, which represents the largest cohort of Autism Spectrum Condition ASC users.

It was suggested to the Sub-Committee that the indicator was beginning to move in the right direction and further improvements in the coming year was expected.

The Sub-Committee was informed that the service  was ahead of its target in

the rate of permanent admissions for service users aged 65 and over into nursing and residential care and the 25% reduction compared with the same period last year (321 admissions in 2016/17 compared to 240 admissions in 2017/18).

The Sub-Committee noted the performance information presented.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from the Head of Adult Social Care setting out the services within Adult Social Care and Commissioning.  A brief description of what each section was responsible for was outlined.

A detailed presentation on the Care Act and Better Care Fund was also given, this included details of how the Care Act pulled together a number of legislation and law into one document.  The Act brings together the duties and responsibilities or extends those already being used.

The Act aims to make care and support clearer and fairer by introducing a cap on the care costs that people will incur in their lifetime; provide a new universal deferred payment scheme so that people do not have to sell their homes; provide a single national threshold for eligibility to care and support; guarantee to ensure continuity of care when moving areas; include protections to ensure that no one goes without care if a provider fails and to ensure that young adults are not left without care and support during the transition to adult care and support.

The Sub-Committee noted that every provision undertaken by Adult Social Care was driven by statute. It was also noted that 87% of the budget was spent on the services provided. It was indicated that the service always had to balance between budget and market pressure that tend to affect the way Adult Social Care and Commissioning met its requirement.

The Sub-Committee was informed of the main triggers of increasing demand, for social care. It was stated that Havering was estimated to have one of the highest rates of serious physical disabilities among London boroughs.

The presentation outlined the following budget pressures:

·         Providers requesting for uplifts in rates to cover increased costs from additional legal obligations and other inflationary pressures.

·         An increased migration in to the borough, resulting in an increase in demand

·         An increased complexity of needs of those approaching the service for support.

·         An increased in demand on social care due to demands within hospital discharge, leading to greater support in the community setting.

The Sub-Committee was informed that a green paper on care and support for older people was due out by autumn 2018. The paper would set out plans to improve care and support older people and tackle the challenges of an ageing population.

The Sub-Committee noted the presentation and thanked the Director of Adult Social Care for the overview on Adult Social Care.

The Sub-Committee received a report that detailed the Sub-Committee’s work programme for the forthcoming year.

Members decided to defer deliberation on the work programme to the next meeting.

Members were advised to forward any suggestions for areas for scrutiny to the chairman so that it could be included on the work programme.