MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES, HOUSING AND BENEFITS SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER 2003 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM
Present :
Mr I R Stephens (Chairman), Mr J R Adams, Mr A C Bartlett, Mrs B D Clough, Mrs D Gardiner, Mr C R Hancock, Mr C Lillywhite (deputising for Mr D G Williams), Mrs M J Lloyd (deputising for Mr J F Howe), Mr A J Mellor, Mr V J Morey, Mrs E Oulton
Portfolio Holder :
Mr G S Kendall
Apologies :
Mrs D Gardiner, Mr J F Howe, Mr D G Williams
35. MINUTES
RESOLVED :
THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on the 7 August 2003 be confirmed.
36. PATIENT ADVICE AND LIAISON SERVICE (PALS) QUARTERLY REPORT
The Chairman welcomed Mrs Cathy Brown, Lead PALS Facilitator to the meeting. The Select Committee were reminded that the report had been requested following the Committees development day in March 2003. The Select Committee were advised that the objective of PALS was to manage with any complaints, queries or concerns regarding both health care and social services issues.
Members received a three month quarterly report for the months of April, May and June 2003, however due to the increasing work demand it had only been possible to provide a full months data for June 2003. Mrs Brown highlighted the increase in workload during May and June which related to PALS taking over the role of verbal concerns/complaints for Dental Practices across the Island. Six thousand people who had been de-registered from Dental Practices across the Island, increasing the demand for PALS by approximately 10% per month.
Difficulties with funding and staffing had also placed pressure on the Service. Due to current staffing levels the hours of operation were Monday - Friday 9-5pm. The weekend was covered by an on-call duty manager. In addition as Lead Facilitator, Mrs Brown was unable to fulfil her other duties such as undertaking work for the Strategic Health Authority.
The Select Committee expressed their thanks to Mrs Brown for attending the meeting.
RESOLVED :
(a) THAT PALS present a 6 monthly report to the Select Committee
(b) THAT PALS report any issues to the Committee that it considers requires the support of the overview and scrutiny committee to achieve a satisfactory resolution to he complaint.
37. BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF JULY 2003
The Select Committee received the of the Head of Policy, Performance and Resources which set out the budget and spending position on revenue for the services within the Committees remit.
As members were aware the previous year reduction in the promoting independence grant had placed an on-going pressure of £148,000 on the two independent living resource centres. It was noted that there was a potential overspend at the end of the financial year of £110,000 this had risen from the June 2003 budget report at which time a potential overspend of £103,000 had been highlighted.
During discussion members requested that the Supporting People Administration costs be presented separately from the programmes main budget.
RESOLVED :
THAT administration costs for the Supporting People Programme be shown separately in future Budget Monitoring reports.
38. THE SOCIAL SERVICES INSPECTORATE AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FOR SOCIAL SERVICES FOR THE PERIOD 2002/03
The Select Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director of Social Services and Housing which made members aware of the draft Social Services Inspectorate Performance Assessment Results which would be announced in November 2003. In August 2003 the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) had held an Annual Review Meeting involving a number of stakeholders including the Social Services Directorate, the Council, the PCT, the Social Services and Housing Portfolio Holder, Audit Commission and the Strategic Health Authority which would contribute towards the assessment of performance against social services functions in 2002/03.
As Members were aware, the Directorate had received a 2 star rating out of 4 for the year 2001/2002, which had been considered a good result and had contributed positively to the overall rating of the Council following the Comprehensive Performance Assessment. The Portfolio Holder advised the Committee that the Directorate were hopeful that a 2 star rating would be retained. However it was noted that many Performance Indicators which had been areas of excellence for the Directorate in 2001/2002 were no longer being measured and this could potentially effect the overall rating.
The Assessment had also identified that Children’s Services had been more successful than Adult Services. There had been a number of staffing changes and losses in Adult Services in addition to heavy workloads which had particularly effected its results. It was suggested that the Select Committee become more involved in Adult Services.
Some of the areas of weakness identified in Adults Services were already being addressed through the Action Plan for Adult Services. In particular Internal audits had been undertaken to ensure through supervision that proper systems were followed. The Directorate were also looking at the successes of other similar authorities. It was noted that the implementation of the new client database system would also create many areas of improvement to the service.
RESOLVED :
(a) THAT the Children and Young Person’s Committee examine issues surrounding Looked After Children, specifically their life chances educational qualifications and child protection
(b) THAT the ‘compact’ be fully utilized to achieve a better performance rating.
CHAIRMAN