Report from the Cabinet member for
TO THE MEETING OF FULL COUNCIL – 21 March 2007
1.
Children’s Services
Two
very important events took place this month:
Firstly,
the Special Educational Needs Information Day, held at the Isle of Wight
College on the 3rd March, was attended by many parents/carers and
key staff. Sadly, I was unable to attend this event but the feedback from
parents and carers has been very positive.
Secondly,
the annual Wight 2B Heard conference was held in Bembridge on the 9 March,
with a large number of island young people participating.
We
were disappointed to hear that the Department of Health has reduced the funding
for preventative work with young people on substance misuse. The Director,
Steve Beynon, will be assessing the impact of this reduction and further
details will be forthcoming.
On
a more positive note, members will be pleased to hear that £80K has been
allocated within the Children’s services budget to secure a training centre for
our Looked After Children.
A
comprehensive training programme on the role of the corporate parent is being
planned for all members. The National Children’s Bureau has been approached to
lead this initiative and details will be issued shortly.
Members
should please note that the inspection of the Youth Offending team will be
taking place soon.
2.
Community Services
Earlier
this month, I visited Knowsley Authority. Together with the Leader, Sarah
Mitchell and Barry Cooke, I had the chance to view positive joint working in
action.
The
Chief Executive of Knowlsey PCT is also the Director of Adult Social Services
and they have many combined services at both the commissioning and provision
level.
During
the visit, we were given a very interesting presentation on how they positively
deliver joined up health and social care services and had the opportunity to
meet with key members and officers.
David
Behan Director of Social Care at the Department of Health visited the IOW on
the 9th March. The feedback received was very positive and David
described us as "an organisation in transition but very positive - an
organisation ready and about to deliver."
Thanks to Sarah Mitchell and everyone involved who made the visit so
successful.
The
Director and I attended the South East Regional Network - Lead members and
Directors meeting held in Aylesbury. Key items that were discussed included
cost pressures and the upcoming spending review and the local authority
interface with health.
I
was pleased to attend the launch of the Telecare initiative yesterday. In 2005 the government set aside £80M to
enable local authorities to promote independent living through the help of
technology and the Isle of Wight is using their share of the allocated funds to
develop the service in conjunction with Tunstall
The
telecare solution consists of various sensors placed around the home, which are
linked to a lifeline home unit. The system is monitored 24hrs a day and will be
operated by Wightcare services, which currently provide the valuable
Wight-alarm and home warden service.
Telecare
will be part of a wider preventative agenda enabling residents to stay at home
as long as possible and reduce lengthy stays in hospital. A briefing note is
being prepared and will be issued shortly and in the meantime I have placed
some information from the launch in the member’s rooms.
3.
Local Government Association (LGA)
I
attended the Community Well Being Board of The Local Government Association on
the 7th March. Items on the agenda included:
Please
access the LGA website for further details.
Cllr
Dawn Cousins
Cabinet
Member for