MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SOCIAL SERVICES, HOUSING AND BENEFITS SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON WEDNESDAY 5 DECEMBER 2001 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM

Present :

Mr R G Mazillius (Chairman), Mr A C Bartlett, Mrs T M Butchers, Mrs D Gardiner, Mr C R Hancock, Mr G S Kendall, Mr A J Mundy, Mrs E Oulton, Mr R C Richards, Mr I R Stephens, Mrs J L Wareham, Mr D G Williams

Portfolio Holder :

Mr J A Bowker

Also Present :

Mr M J Cunningham, Mrs B Lawson, Mr R A Sutton

RESOLVED :

THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2001 be confirmed.

31. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Mr G S Kendall declared a non pecuniary interest as a representative on the Board of Isle Care and as a non Executive Director of the Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust.

Mrs T Butchers declared a non pecuniary interest as a non Executive Board member of Medina Housing Association.

32. URGENT BUSINESS - CLOSURE OF ST LAWRENCE NURSING HOME

The Chairman agreed to an urgent item of business so that Members were aware of the closure of a Nursing Home.

The Strategic Director of Social Services and Housing reported that on the 22 November 2001 Medina Housing Association had announced that St Lawrence Nursing Home was to close. The home was currently housing 16 patients, with the aid of the NHS Trust Medina Housing had agreed to keep the home open until the 8 January 2002.

The Head of the Joint Registration and Inspection Unit explained the reason for the closure was due to the Nursing Home being unable to comply with the standards of supplying sufficient qualified Nurses.

In view of Members concerns it was agreed the Strategic Director would write to Medina Housing Association to clarify matters relating to St Lawrence Nursing Home.

RESOLVED :

THAT the position be noted.

33. ABSOLUTE CARE TRAINING LIMITED

The Select Committee received a presentation from Absolute Care Training Limited (ACT), a private training agency which had been established in September 2000.

ACT focussed mainly on providing training for the National Vocational Qualification Health and Social Care Award at Levels 2, 3, 4 and the Assessors award. In its first year it had trained and assessed nearly 50 candidates, this had increased to nearly 60 candidates for the current year.

Due to the new training regulations, required by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC), there was an increased need to train care staff to a higher standard. The training agencies main challenge was attracting funding. Currently 45% of programme funding was received from the European Social Fund and 55% from match funding which was currently contracted to Highbury College for the current year.

The agency felt that responsibility of training care staff should not only fall to care employers, but also Local Authorities, who should support the need to facilitate training.

RESOLVED :

THAT Absolute Care Training Limited be thanked for their interesting and informative presentation.

34. CARE AND NURSING HOMES

(a) Presentation from Mr R Jones, Chairman of the Residential Care Homes Association

Members received a presentation from Mr Jones, Chairman of the Residential Care Homes Association.

Mr Jones highlighted the impact on care homes that the implementation of the new regulations of the NCSC were having. Members were advised that 48 private homes had been forced to close on the Island in the past 10 years. The requirement that the homes fulfilled the new regulations set by the Care Standards Commission regarding alterations to the buildings and increased qualifications of care staff had put a huge financial strain on the homes. Homes also faced difficulty in the recruitment and retention of staff.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Chairman of the Registered Care Homes Association be thanked for his interesting and informative presentation.

(b) Presentation from Mr K Dannant, Chairman of the Registered Nursing Home Association

Members received a presentation from Mr Dannant, the Chairman of the Nursing Homes Association and Mr Flux the Vice Chairman of the Nursing Home Association. Mr Dannant outlined the effects that the NCSC regulations were having on Nursing Homes.

Members were informed that there were over 200 new regulations with an implementation deadline of 1 April 2001. The changes included widening of doorways, increased communication aids, water temperature control valves and guarded radiators. Mr Flux outlined the average cost per nursing home to implement these changes was �84,000. Problems of the recruitment and retention of staff were also high, especially in view of the new regulation that a minimum of 50% of care staff should be trained at NVQ level 2 by 2005.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Chairman of the Registered Nursing Homes Association be thanked for the interesting and informative presentation.

35. REPORTS OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL SERVICES AND HOUSING

(a) Social Services and Housing Budget : Projected Income and Expenditure for 2001-02 and Budget Forecast for 2002-03

The Strategic Director outlined the projected income and expenditure for 2001-02 and budget forecast for 2002-03. Members were made aware that the main areas of concern in the current financial year were the cost of placements for children in public care, services for older people, people with learning disabilities, and homelessness. It was predicted that the Directorates overspend for 2001-02 would be �570,000.

The Director reported that the figure of �1.5m shortfall in Social Services and Housing budget for 2002/03, after taking account of full year savings of �800,000, no longer represented the minimum amount needed to run a modern and safe service. In the light of the work done by the Residential Care and Nursing Home Owners, he said this figure would need to be increased to �2.6m. The Select Committee was advised that the figures representing costs of care home owners would need to be increased in order to meet the demanding costs of implementing the NCSC new regulations

RESOLVED :

THAT the report be noted.

(b) Impact Survey - National Minimum Standards, Homes for Older People and Update on the Current Provision of Care and Nursing Homes.

The Head of the Joint Registration and Inspection Unit appraised Members of the findings of a survey that the Unit had undertaken in May 2001.

The Survey had assessed the potential impact of the new National Minimum Standard published by the Department of Health on residential and nursing homes for older people on the Island. A number of homes had already closed indicating that the reasons for the decision was because of the new standards which be implemented from April 2002. It was reported that 14% of homes had indicated that they would be likely to close within 2 years which would mean a potential loss of 450 beds out of a total of 1890.

The NCSC had not clarified what would happen to homes that had not complied with all the regulations by April 2002. It was indicated however that the Commission would exercise a 'light touch' the first year where the care and standards were found to be otherwise good.

RESOLVED :

THAT the report be noted

(c) Mental Health Day Centre Budgets

The Select Committee received the report of the Strategic Director outlining the consequences for service users if the proposals to reduce the mental health day centre budget by �56,000 per annum and the incorporation of Mental Illness Specific Grant (MISG) funding were implemented. The report recommended that the MISG Target Fund money be used to maintain the day centres current funding levels. This was available to develop day centre services during the evenings and weekends. Although day centres would still operate during core times of 10 am - 5 pm, services during this time would be reduced by 10%. To determine whether the change would suit service users the Isle of Wight NHS Heathcare Trust had carried out a paper review of 50 service users chosen randomly across all 4 day centres. The data demonstrated that the current service was not meeting the needs of all the service users and it was thought that the proposed service would give people a choice which would be relevant to their needs.

Members discussed the implications that the change of service would bring to staff working at the day centres.

RESOLVED :

THAT the Select Committee support a reduction in the base budget by �56,000 from 1 April 2002 and incorporate the �55,000 MISG Target fund money.

36. MEMBERS QUESTION TIME

A question was put to the Chairman by :

Cllr Bartlett in relation to the closure of St Lawrence Nursing Home. (MQ24/01)

A copy of the question and reply is contained in the Members' Question Register.

CHAIRMAN