Agenda and minutes

Venue: Town Hall, Main Road, Romford

Contact: Richard Cursons 01708 432430  Email: richard.cursons@onesource.co.uk

Items
No. Item

14.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS

(if any) – received.

 

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence received.  Councillor Best took the opportunity to thank Councillor Hawthorn for taking on the role of Chairman during his absence and keeping him informed throughout.

15.

DISCLOSURE OF INTERESTS

Members are invited to disclose any interest in any items on the agenda at this point in the meeting.

 

Members may still disclose any interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

 

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

16.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 171 KB

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 September 2018 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on the 4 September 2018, were agreed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

17.

DABD - DIAL - A-RIDE SERVICE pdf icon PDF 158 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from Elaine James, Chief Officer and Brian Hunter, Mobility Lead at DABD. 

 

The Sub-Committee was informed that Dial-a-Ride was a membership scheme run by Transport for London which provided a bookable door-to-door minibus service free of charge for disabled and older people who had difficulties accessing public transport. DABD provided a driver plus vehicle for an 8 hour shift between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00 Monday – Friday and during some holiday periods, with an ad-hoc provision of additional drivers and vehicles to respond to variations in the Dial-a-ride service. 

 

DABD had 25 vehicles in their fleet, 8 of which were used for daily dial-a-ride services, and which were based at their depot in Dagenham. 

 

Although passenger profiles varied daily in respect of demographic and mobility requirements, typical Dial-a-ride trips were 70% aged 65 years and over and 15% wheelchair users.

 

Important aspects of the service were noted as:

 

·                Delivering a user friendly consistent, highly reliable and flexible service, operating in a 5 mile boundary of London.

·                Providing well maintained, clean vehicles in accordance to Dial-a-ride standards.

·                Friendly, helpful, fully trained drivers who go above and beyond for passengers.

·                Utilized environmentally responsible operation procedures and used  Llw emission, alternative fuel vehicles with emissions reporting.

·                The service was fully auditable.

·                The service was vital to reducing social isolation amongst the elderly and disabled communities.

 

Data showed that Havering had a high percentage of residents with transport accessibility issues. Last year alone, the Transport department delivered over 75,800 trips.  Studies had suggested that over a third of the cost of the health and social care could be alleviated by the implementation of schemes such as these.  Therefore, DABD could and would play a critical role in tackling the present issue of social isolation.

 

For the past 66 years, DABD had been supporting disabled and vulnerable people to live independently with dignity and to enable greater economic, social, educational and physical mobility through personal development.  It was the belief of DABD that everyone should have the opportunity for personal development to achieve their full potential in order to live their life as independently as possible and of their choosing.  Furthermore, it was the belief of DBD that all excluded people should:

 

·         Be able to influence local decision making

·         Have the choice in the way they live and work

·         Have inclusive and independent access to living

·         Have facilities and be facilitated in order to have access within the community.

 

Information on the Dial-a-Ride service was available on the Council’s website and staff of the application process were able to provide advice to residents.  Furthermore, promotional leaflets were available at GP surgeries across the borough. It was suggested that an advertisement be placed in the Living magazine. 

 

The Sub-Committee discussed DABD’s use of technology and were concerned that this may cause some users difficulty in accessing the service.  Members concerns would be fed back to the Forum to ascertain whether other options would be available. 

 

The Individuals OSSC:

 

Noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

18.

QUARTER TWO PERFORMANCE REPORT pdf icon PDF 280 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received the Quarter 2 Performance Report which provided an overview of the Council’s performance against the two performance indicators selected for monitoring by the Sub-Committee:

 

·           Percentage of service users receiving Direct Payments; and

·           Rate of permanent admissions to residential and nursing care homes per 100,000 population (aged 65+).

 

The percentage of service users receiving Direct Payments had an amber rating.  This was a target of 35%, with a Q2 performance level of 34.9%. There was constantly a need for the Council to be vigilant to ensure payments were being used appropriately, with payments occasionally having been either suspended or terminated due to fraudulent use and the service provision provided in-house. The Sub-Committee commended the local authority on its due diligence.  The Council’s Payroll Service was able to offer support for tax etc at a charge, which would be covered by the direct payment. The Council held a list of accredited registered personal assistants. 

 

The rate of permanent admissions to residential and nursing care homes was at a green rating and well within target.  The Q2 performance target was 310 with 2018/19 performance at 293, where lower performance was better.

 

The individuals OSSC:

 

·           Noted the contents of the report and the actions identified to improve services.

·           Members also noted the positive feedback to services by way of compliments received and highlighted good practice.

 

19.

FUTURE AGENDAS

Committee Members are invited to indicate to the Chairman, items within this Committee’s terms of reference they would like to see discussed at a future meeting.  Note: it is not considered appropriate for issues relating to individuals to be discussed under this provision.

 

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee discussed the forward plan and agreed that the following items be presented at the next meeting:

 

·      Down Sizing Accommodation

·      Respite Care for Carers

·      Adult Social Care Funding and the Voluntary Sector

·      Progress Report