MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SCRUTINY COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 18 MAY 2006 COMMENCING AT 4.00 PM

 

Present :

 

Cllrs Geoff Lumley (Chairman), Anne Bishop, William Burt, Deborah Gardiner, Heather Humby, Brian Mosdell

 

Co-opted Voting Members Present:

 

Mrs Sue Poston

 

Co-opted Non Voting Member Present :

 

Mr Bob Blezzard

 

Apologies :

 

Mr Anthony Marvin

 

 

 


The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting, explaining that the earlier start to the meeting had been due to a diary conflict for Members attending the Chairman’s dinner.  Cllr Anne Bishop was welcomed as a newly appointed member of the Committee.

 

38.                         MINUTES

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 20 April 2006 be confirmed.

 

39.             DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

A written declaration of interest, in relation to agenda item 7, had been received from Mr Bob Blezzard as he was a member of Sandown Town Council and employed by Sandham Middle School. 

 

40.             PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

 

There were no public questions.

 

41.             WIGHTCARE ENQUIRY – SC06-06 – FORMAL EVIDENCE SESSION

 

The Cabinet Member for Care, Health and Housing and the Interim Director for Adult and Community Services had been invited to give evidence to the Committee.

 

The Committee was interested in the possible transfer of the current Wightcare provision to a private provider and asked why this was under consideration.  The Cabinet Member advised that the unit costs for Wightcare provision were perceived as being high and in the interests of identifying efficiency savings and value for money, all alternatives were being investigated.  The recent Government White Paper stated that efficiencies should be achieved without job losses or a drop in service level.  It was envisaged that any savings could be redirected into providing new client responsibilities, which would include children with learning disabilities and transition cases.  More money would also be invested in service provision for older people and supporting cross Solent travel for some Island patients.

 

The Committee was informed that there were currently six service providers, registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI), whose contracts were monitored by the Adult Services staff.  In addition, there were a number of smaller private companies providing services under the direct payment scheme.

 

Members raised concerns regarding the quality of the current service and in particular questioned comments in recent CSCI reports about the processes surrounding the distribution of medication for the two main providers.  The Committee was informed that a process would be followed if a decision was taken to outsource Wightcare.  Expressions of interest had been received from several companies.

 

Further questions were asked about the reasons behind the high unit costs for Wightcare in comparison to private providers.  The Committee was advised that this was mainly due to corporate overheads and the terms of the current contract.  Members were reminded that the Council had a statutory role to provide care, but this might best be served by working in partnership whilst monitoring to ensure high standards.

 

Questions were raised about the impact on staff if service provision was outsourced and whether any reduction in unit costs would be detrimental to staff’s pay.  Members were interested to know how this might correlate with the Council’s vision of achieving an improved Island economy.  The Committee was informed that no further money was available with the White Paper, although it described workforce development, value for money and savings efficiencies.  The Policy Commission for Care, Health and Housing had been asked to consider the implications of the White Paper. 

 

The Cabinet Member advised that any decision would be based on consideration of the risks to service users, the impact on staff, and the confidence of ensuring that the quality and standard of services would be sustainable.

           

RESOLVED :

 

THAT the Committee would provide a report detailing recommendations for the Cabinet Member and the Interim Director of Adult and Community Care.

 

42.             STRATEGIC PARTNERING – SC07/06 – UPDATE

 

The Chairman invited the Leader to provide an update on progress made with the Strategic Partnering exercise being undertaken by PA Consulting.

 

The Leader advised that a summary of the PA Consulting report had been made available on the website and a letter had been forwarded to members of staff.  The detail of the report was currently under consideration and it was envisaged that the completed report would be discussed with the Council’s newly appointed Chief Executive before further progress could be made.

 

RESOLVED :

 

THAT the update on Strategic Partnering be noted.

 

43.             SUPPORTING PEOPLE ENQUIRY – SC09/06

 

The Chairman advised the Committee that the scoping document was not available at this stage and the item would therefore be deferred.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the Supporting People scoping document be brought to a future meeting of the Scrutiny Committee.

 

44.             FORWARD PLAN

 

The Committee reviewed the Forward Plan, but had no further comment to make at the present time.

 

RESOLVED:

 

THAT the Forward Plan be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAIRMAN