Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2011.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2011 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Councillor Shirley Jones declared a personal interest by virtue of being a member of the Alzheimer’s Society.

Mrs. Mabel Taylor, a Knutsford resident, attended to speak on the proposed changes to adult services transport provision in the Macclesfield and Wilmslow area. She expressed a concern that residents in rural areas would be adversely affected by the proposed changes as services became more centralised.

In terms of transport services transferring to Dial-a-ride, it was queried whether the dial-a-ride buses would be suitably adapted for wheelchair users, whether the buses would be manned by two people and finally whether service users would be charged more than they were currently paying for a similar service.

Mrs. Charlotte Peters-Rock, a member of ‘Knutsford Area for Knutsford Action', queried whether the Committee had any plans to establish a Task and Finish Group to look at the health and wellbeing of carers. It was suggested that this could be a joint review with the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee or indeed with Chester and Cheshire West.

She also questioned why Cheshire East felt it was necessary to have a police presence at a recent consultation event in Knutsford.

The Chairman thanked the members of the public for their comments and reassured them they would receive a written response to their concerns which would also be shared with the Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee.

To consider the minutes of the meeting held on 10 October 2011.

The Committee received the minutes of the Joint Scrutiny Committee held on 10 October 2011. A query was raised with regards to the future of the Committee chairmanship and whether this would be on a two year rotation. It was stated that the work of this Committee was vital as it looked closely at issues around mental health.

Lucia Scally, Head of Integrated Strategic Commissioning and Safeguarding, confirmed that at the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, it had been noted that the rotation of the chairmanship along with other issues would be discussed at the joint Committee’s next meeting scheduled for the 23 January 2012.

RESOLVED - That the minutes be received.

To consider a report of the Performance and Information Manager.

Sue Crompton, Performance Standards & Information Manager, attended to update the Committee on a report received by the Health and Adult Social Care Committee on 10 March 2011 and to inform the Committee on the progress being made to produce a Local Account for Adults who were in receipt or might require social care intervention.

Providing the context, Sue Crompton explained that the government had announced changes to the way that local authority social care services were assessed. She reported that previously, councils had been assessed each year by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and through the national indicator set. Both the Annual Performance Assessment by the CQC and the National Indicator Set requirements have ended.

In their place, Sue Crompton explained that the Government had suggested the following:

1)    Local Account

-   A document published by a local authority to illustrate how it believes it has made progress on achieving its goals for adult social care over the year.

2)    Outcome Measures

-       These would be published annually so that national comparisons could be made across Councils on a number of different measures.

Very simply, the Local Account would be a tool for accountability which would promote transparency and help councils and citizens alike to scrutinise progress against set priorities and outcomes.

Sue Crompton described how Cheshire East Council had established a ‘Local Account Steering Group’ to oversee the development of the Local Account. Part of this process had been to develop a questionnaire in order to ascertain what local people and service users would see as their priorities. Sue Crompton added that the steering group were hopeful that the first Local Account would be published in September 2012.

Clarification was sought as to whether the Local Account would cover private care or just what Cheshire East commissioned. Sue Crompton confirmed that the CQC were still doing inspections of private care homes. Lucia Scally added that the role of the Local Account was to provide qualitative information and would inform the commissioning process in the future.

A query was made with regards to Local Indicator LI002, provided in the appendix. It was suggested that data on this indicator would have been more meaningful if those service users who had not been able to receive services due to hospitalisation would have been separated. Jacqui Evans, Head of Local Delivery/Independent Living Services, acknowledged that this needed to be done and reassured the Committee that work was going on to achieve this.

A number of comments were made with regards to methodology used for consulting with service users over the formulation of the Local Account. Lucia Scally asserted that the methodology had been comprehensive as the online survey was easy to use and access and for those who could not access it; face-to-face consultation exercises were planned. It was acknowledged that there might be lessons to learn but as this was the first time a Local Account frame work had to be developed, this was to be expected. She also noted that the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

To consider a report of the Head of Individual Commissioning, Adult Services.

Alison McCudden, Commissioning Manager (Income Maximisation), attended to present on progress made on a programme approved by Cabinet on 14 March 2011 to move away from Strategically Commissioned Adult Transport provision over 2011/12 and 2012/13. She noted that there was recognition that a small element of strategically commissioned transport for those individuals who could not be supported by alternative transport options would need to be retained. She reported that Cabinet and the Adult Services Portfolio Holder had requested a phased approach to the transport strategy in order to provide proof of concept with viable market alternatives before implementing a full scale roll out.

As a result, the programme had been implemented for approximately 200 service users in the Crewe and Nantwich area firstly. Alison McCudden explained that this area had been chosen because it had the greatest amount of transportation; it was densely populated and had the greatest opportunity for market development. She continued to outline how alternative transport had been provided for these service users, with the main aim being to establish a mixed economy where people had choice and a number of appropriate options available to them. This included the use of dial-a-ride, shared taxis and more specialist vehicles. Alison McCudden made it clear that service users would only be moved to alternative transport if the service felt that the means met that person’s transport needs as well as, if not better than their previous service. If that alternative was not available, adult services would continue to commission a Council service.

Alison McCudden made the final point that the service were now assessing service users in the Macclesfield and Wilmslow areas and that they aimed to roll out the programme to these residents by March 2012.

A comment was made that it was important to encourage people to use dial-a-ride as this often helped service users and their carers’ access care facilities which often had limited car parking. It was questioned therefore whether dial-a-ride would transport the carer as well as the service user as the presence of a carer was vital for people suffering with dementia for example. Alison McCudden acknowledged the point and confirmed that she would feed this back to dial-a-ride.

A query was made with regard to the nine Macon House service users who had high and complex needs. It was questioned that if the service had yet to negotiate alternative provision, how were the service users being transported. Alison McCudden reported that the service had and would continue to commission a Council service until an appropriate alternative could be found.

Clarification was sought as to whether taxi drivers had the adequate training to transport service users. Alison McCudden confirmed that all taxi drivers had an enhanced CRB. In terms of taxi use it was also queried whether rural communities were more dependent on taxis over other forms of transport. Alison McCudden explained that this analysis had yet to be completed and reassured the Committee that not one service user would be left without  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

To consider a report of the Strategic Commissioning Manager.

Liz Austin, Strategic Commissioning Manager, attended to inform the Committee of the future plan of work being developed for Adults on the Information and Communication Programme. She explained that the programme was a developing plan that would use new and existing media to form a comprehensive range of information for Cheshire East residents.

Liz Austin continued to report that it was proposed to set up an Information and Communication steering group who would be tasked to set out a clear framework of communication activities after considering a number of key questions such as:

-       What were the communications objectives

-       Who were the main target groups

-       What was the main message

-       Did the information need to be in an accessible format

-       Did the programme do the job.

She explained that the service were already aware of a number of challenges. Indeed, it had been recognised that as Cheshire East had an aging population the service needed to be highly sensitive to the needs of different demographic groups and therefore bespoke the message and medium accordingly. With this in mind, Liz Austin reassured the Committee that whilst communication methods such as letters and face-to-face contact were comparatively expensive, they would continue to make these available as it was known some residents preferred this type of interaction.

A number of comments were made that agreed with this sentiment. A concern was expressed that if Cheshire East relied on solely cost effective and technology based methods such as the internet and digital TV, a number of residents would be left isolated. Jill Greenwood, Commissioning Manager, agreed and drew attention to the Knowledge Transfer Partnership which was a project working to train local shopkeepers and hairdressers who often had close contact with older residents, to signpost to services and offer advice. Attention was drawn to the experience in one ward where it had be found the most effective methods for engaging with older residents had been through faith groups, leaflets and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau.

The point was made that one effective way of communicating with residents was through the Councillors themselves. It was suggested therefore that a training session could be provided for Councillors so that they could effectively communicate messages regarding adult services to residents in their respective wards. It was also suggested that it might be appropriate to have some Member input into the steering group process. On this latter point, Councillor Domleo noted that Councillor Hunter would be informally involved in the steering group. This was acknowledged but it was added that scrutiny representation would also be germane.

Jill Greenwood suggested that a demonstration of the Information Gateway, Digital TV and Demenshare be brought back to the next meeting for information.

RESOLVED –

a)    That the proposal to form a steering group to oversee work required to develop the Adults Information and Communication Programme be supported and that informal Member input to this group be sought from the Cabinet Support Member and Scrutiny Committee.

b)    That the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To give consideration to the work programme.

Members considered the work programme.

RESOLVED –

a)    That the following items be added to the work programme

a.    Improvements to Adult Social Care Services – 21 December 2011

b.    Empower card – 18 January 2012

To note the current Forward Plan, identify any new items and to determine whether any further examination of new issues is appropriate.

The Committee gave consideration to the extracts of the forward plan which fell within the remit of the Committee.

RESOLVED – That the forward plan be noted.