78. MINUTES

RESOLVED :

THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 19 February 2004 be confirmed.

79. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Mrs D Gardiner declared a personal interest in Minute 84 as she was an employee of Unison

Mr G Kendall declared a personal interest in any matter relating to the Primary Care Trust as he was a Non Executive Director of the Primary Care Trust

80. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

A Question was put to the Chairman as follows :

Mrs Swan asked a question in relation to the appointment of a Director of Children’s Services (PQ19/04)

A copy of the question and reply given are contained in the Public Questions Register.

81. URGENT BUSINESS – RETIREMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES STAFF

(a) Retirement of Mr Martin Henson

The Chairman advised Members that Mr Martin Henson, Adult Services Manager would shortly be retiring. The Select Committee paid tribute to his work.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Select Committee’s appreciation of the service given by Mr Henson to the Council be recorded in the minutes.

(b) Retirement of Mr Pete Scott

The Chairman advised members Mr Scott, Head of Direct Services would shortly be retiring. The Select Committee paid tribute to his work.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Select Committee’s appreciation of the service given by Mr Scott to the Council be recorded in the minutes.

82. BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF JANUARY 2004

The Portfolio Holder for Social Services and Housing presented the Budget Monitoring report as at the end of January 2004. The Select Committee were advised that the reduction in the promoting independence grant was an ongoing pressure of £148,000 on the two Independent living resource centres which was contributing to a projected overspend this year of £154,000.

A further cost pressure relating to residential care within the elderly people client group had arisen but was currently being offset by underspending within Children's Services. The income position relating to client contributions was still an uncertainty within the budget and the impact would not be known until the end of the financial year.

The Select Committee noted that as part of the 2003/04 budget settlement the Directorate had to achieve a savings target of £272,000. Currently £228,000 had been identified leaving £44,000 still to be achieved. Members were advised that the source of these savings were yet to be identified.

RESOLVED :

THAT the report be noted.

83. QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REPORT 3

The Select Committee received the Quarterly Performance Management Report (QPMR) for the period of 1 October 2003 to 31 December 2003 for Social Services, Benefits and Housing. This was the first time the QPMR had been submitted to the Select Committee for consideration.

During questioning Members raised some concern that the information was not up todate. The Select Committee were advised that due to the nature of the data it would always be retrospective, largely due to the time involved in collecting and tabling the information. However it was noted that the Corporate Policy and Communications department were investigating a new computer system which would improve the collection of data.

The Portfolio Holder advised the Select Committee that the inspection of Children’s Services had taken place and although the final report on the service had not yet been received the preliminary findings of the inspection had been positive.

It was noted that the integration of Children’s Services and Education would result in the need for a new Director. The Portfolio Holder advised the Select Committee that the Executive had agreed not to advertise the post Nationally.

Members referred to the court cases that had arisen due to the dispute with some residential homeowners regarding the purchase price that had been agreed with the majority of homes. It was noted all homes had approached the court to withdraw their case.

During discussion members asked what further foster carer enhancements would be implemented to ensure the retention of carers. It was advised that there would be further expenditure this financial year to ensure continued recruitment and retention. Although it was noted that due to the nature of the Island there was a finite pool of carers to draw upon. A recruitment drive and been held recently and had been well attended. Members commented that the data included in the Public Service Agreement targets was unclear and its lack of transparency did not enable good scrutiny of performance, officers agreed to change the format. It was also suggested that information regarding the recruitment of foster carers be included in the next QPMR.

With regard to homecare provision it was noted that the Directorate were working towards increasing homecare fees and moving towards block contracts. During questioning it was noted that block locality contract were not due to begin until May 2005. Some concern was raised regarding this delayed timescale.

The Select Committee congratulated officers regarding the significant improvements that had been made in homelessness in particular the reduction of families in bed and breakfast accommodation. Members asked why additional staff were being employed in this area. The Select Committee noted that the service was focussing on the prevention of homelessness and would be employing four additional members of staff.

With regard to the disappointing figures in the benefits department, it was noted that the installation of the new computer system had been delayed and had finally been installed on the 19 January 2004. The Select Committee were advised that the system had improved the service considerable and this should be reflected in the next QPMR.

RESOLVED :

THAT it be recommended that the Select Committees suggested amendments be included in future Quarterly Performance Management reports.

84. REPORT OF THE HOME CARE TASK GROUP AND UPDATE ON HOMECARE SERVICES

The Select Committee had requested this update report following the work of the Homecare Task Group. The Chairman of the Task Group advised the meeting that the Group had met several times to identify the priorities for improvement in this area. They had examined the variety of reasons for staff leaving the service, these included, lack of guaranteed hours, lack of enhanced pay for working unsocial hours and not being sufficiently reimbursed for mileage.

The Head of Adult Services advised the Committee that the current system for homecare was not sustainable and the demographics indicated that there was an opportunity in the next two years to make changes before the situation deteriorated further.

It was proposed that a locality-based model would provide the greatest marked stability and would allow for easier coverage of the rural areas. It was also anticipated that the Councils current in house service, “Wightcare” would become a specialist provider not involved in the locality tendering process but providing an overacrching Island wide service. The new system would be subject to an open tendering process this had been project planned with a clear realistic timescale, which stated that contracts would be awarded in September 2004 and commence in April 2005 which would allow for all staff training to be complete. The Head of Adult Services emphasised that during the process of improving the homecare service, no clients would lose their home care packages.

The Chairman of the Select Committee referred to the local Isle of Wight Healthcare Strategy which had contained proposals to increase care in the community, the process of commissioning these services was with the Primary Care Trust. During the Select Committees own consultation on these proposals it had recommended to the Healthcare bodies that facilities and staff were in place prior to the proposals implementation.

During discussion members referred to the safety of homecare staff who were often working alone. Members were advised that there were a varity of ways to ensure the safety of staff including the Councils Lone Care System however instances were raised where this system had not been successful.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Select Committee continue to monitor progress and request that a further report be brought back to the Committee in October 2004 to determine the effectiveness of the proposed approach in delivering an improved service.

85. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

RESOLVED :

THAT under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business namely Minute item no 86 on the grounds that there was likely to be disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 8 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

86. VOLUNTARY SECTOR CONTRACTS (PUBLIC MINUTE)

Prior to the start of the item Mrs S A Smart declared a personal interest as Chairman of the Riverside Centre and left the meeting room.

As the Select Committee were aware at its meeting on 4 December 2003, the Portfolio Holder had submitted a report on the current budget expenditure and services provided by the Voluntary Sector to Social Services and Housing Directorate. It had become apparent that a number of the agreements were historical and in need of review, inline with the Councils headroom exercise.

The Select Committee considered the proposals contained in the report. During discussion members raised a number of questions regarding potential savings. The Select Committee were assured that a robust contract management and review process would be established to ensure the service was receiving value for money.

RESOLVED :

(a) THAT the Select Committee note the proposals as listed in the confidential report and would wish to monitor the impact of these on Performance Indicators and the Public Service Agreement Targets

(b) THAT all new bids for additional funding be deferred subject of officers investigating their business case

(c) THAT more efforts be put into promoting the work of the “no barriers initiative” to get more people into “real” jobs.

CHAIRMAN