MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE ADULT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES SELECT COMMITTEE HELD AT COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT, ISLE OF WIGHT ON THURSDAY, 19 AUGUST 2004 COMMENCING AT 9.30 AM

 

Present :

 

Mr I R Stephens (Chairman), Mr J R Adams, Mrs B D Clough, Mr J F Howe, Mr R G Mazillius, Mr V J Morey, Mrs E Oulton, Mr D G Williams

 

Portfolio Holder :

 

Mr G S Kendall

 

Apologies :

 

Mrs D Gardiner

 

Also Present (non voting) :

 

Mr A C Bartlett, Mr R A Sutton

 

 

15.              MINUTES

 

The Minutes of the meeting held on 15 July 2004 were confirmed.

 

16.              DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

 

Mr G S Kendall declared an interest as he was a non Executive Member of the PCT.

 

17.              URGENT BUSINESS

 

The Chairman raised two items of urgent business in order that members were updated on latest issues.

 

(a)               Response To HealthFit

 

The Chairman had received a copy of a letter addressed to the Strategic Director of the Health Authority from Mr Ray Ellis, Chairman of the Joint Health Committee for Hampshire and Isle of Wight.  Mr Ellis had written to ask for an indication as to when a response to HealthFit would be received.  Health partners were to be invited to attend the Select Committee meeting in October to enable them to respond to members.

 

(b)               Update On Mainland Placement

 

There had been a report on Isle of Wight Radio relating to a mainland placement of an Island youth.  The Council had a duty of care and confidentiality so were unable to comment on the case.  There was also a duty to provide supportive care for those who needed it.

 

18.              FORWARD PLAN

 

The Select Committee was advised of the items contained in the Forward Plan for September 2004 to December 2004 relating to areas coming within its remit.

Members were made aware there was a new entry for 6 October in relation to the PricewaterhouseCooper report, this item would be discussed later in the meeting.  The Library Position Statement listed for the Children’s Services Select Committee would come within the remit of Adult and Community Services Select Committee from September 2004.

 

The Portfolio Holder had nothing further to add.

 

19.              BUDGET MONITORING REPORT AS AT END OF JUNE 2004

 

(During the debate Mr D G Williams declared an interest as the Council’s representative on Vectis Housing Association).

 

The Portfolio Holder presented the report which set out the budget and spending position on revenue for the services within the Select Committees remit as at the end of June 2004.

 

The projected pressure for Preserved Rights clients funding could be as much as £1m in 2005/06 in addition the governments funding formula for 2005/06 would not be based on the 2001 census data.  The Portfolio Holder advised that in conjunction with our Health partners he intended to make strong representations to government in the autumn.

 

There was some discussion with reference to Home Improvement Grant Programme nothing had so far been spent from the Empty Homes allocation.  The Housing Loan fund was subject to delay and work was ongoing with Housing Associations partners on downsizing.  Any underspend would be allocated elsewhere.  Members asked about minor repairs and were told that contributions were made to people to help upgrade their property.  At the present time the ceiling was set at £2,500 per application, but there was the possibility that the upper limit would be changed which meant more money going to fewer grants.

 

20.              THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROPOSALS FOR ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE – THE REPORT OF PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS (PWC)

 

The Select Committee considered the report from PwC on Organisational Change which had been submitted to the Executive on 28 July 2004.  The Portfolio Holder indicated that this was a natural follow on from the Council’s Statement of Intent and offered a way forward for Health and Social Care on the Island.  The Council would be working from three base lines Governance, Finance and People and had to make in principle decisions within a short space of time.

 

The Chairman reminded members that the role of the Select Committee towards health was legislated.  At its recent Development Day a Health Task Group had been established with the remit of looking at the findings from the PwC report.

 

After much debate the Select Committee, whilst noting the principles involved behind the proposals, expressed concerns relating to the following issues :

 

·         The report was written with a leaning towards the Health side rather than the Council.

 

·         The only reference to local authority scrutiny in the report was of 5 lines which did not bode well for the way in which recommendations from the Select Committee may be dealt with.

 

·         Savings to be made by the Strategic Health Authority of 6% was approximately £120m for 2004/05 and 8%, approximately £139m for 2005/06 - The Council would need to ensure that it was not supporting NHS deficits.

 

·         No Service Level Agreements signed, some outstanding invoices.

 

·         Commissioning important to the Isle of Wight - how would Commissioning teams be appointed and what would be the number of representatives for the Council.

 

·         The timescales involved were too compressed.

 

·         No councillors were on the Steering Group which appeared to be officer led.

 

·         The option of a merger between Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust and Primary Care Trust management teams had been discounted to early.

 

·         The importance of Corporate Governance.

 

·         A seamless integrated care package was needed to make sure nobody fell through the net.

 

·         Who holds who to account with the proposed new body.

 

·         There was an assumption that Health takes the lead, but there was no reason why the local authority should not exercise Strategic control.

 

·         Retention of key facilities on the Island.

 

·         Funding that normally comes to Council going straight to the new Care Trust.

 

The Select Committee was informed that the cost of the PwC report was £80,000 split between the three commissioning bodies.  Members would be advised as to the actual Council contribution once this had been clarified.  Members were told that PwC were undertaking further work on behalf of the three partner bodies with regard to how commissioning would be delivered in either of the two recommended options and clarification regarding the next steps. It was noted that there would be additional costs associated with any transition process but this would be short term and any new organisation should be able to become more streamlined leading to increased efficiency and effectiveness.

 

ACTION TO BE TAKEN BY SELECT COMMITTEE AND BEST VALUE SUPPORT :

 

That a Health Task Group be established to pursue the findings from the PwC recommendations and to look at other Trusts and other areas as the scope dictates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                            CHAIRMAN