Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 November 2016 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Councillor Stewart Gardiner – Deputy Cabinet Member.

Mark Palethorpe – Director of Adult Social Care and Health

Lorraine Goude - Interim Director of Commissioning

Rachel Wood – Carers Project Manager

Rob Walker - Commissioning Manager

Pete Gosling - Principal Manager, Adult Social Care

Caroline Baines - Commissioning Manager (Health & Social Care / BCF)

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the Agenda

There were no declarations of the existence of a party whip.

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: in order for officers to undertake and background research, it would be helpful if members of the public notified the Scrutiny Officer listed at the foot of the Agenda at least one working day before the meeting with brief details of the matter to be covered.

There were no members of the public present who wished to speak.

To consider a report of the Director of Adult Social Care and Health.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adult Social Care and Health relating to the first six month update on progress made against the Joint Strategy for Carers of all Ages in Cheshire East. The report included details of case studies. The supporting Delivery Plan 2016 – 2018 outlined how the Council’s Adult Social Care, Children and Families, NHS South Cheshire and NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Groups were delivering against the five key priorities set within the delivery plan.

Carers’ Breaks Grants for 2016/2017 had been awarded to a range ofthird sector and volunteer-led providers but it was felt that additional publicity should be provided to advertise the availability of carer breaks particularly in the south of the borough where applications were much lower than the north of the borough.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report be received;

(b)  That the Communities and Health Portfolio Holder be requested to make representations to the two CCGs located within Cheshire East to urge them to maintain funding for carer breaks to avoid unintended consequences of further pressures occuring  elsewhere in the care system, as a result of carer breaks being unavailable;

(c)  That an item be added to the Committee’s work programme to monitor progress in connection with Carer Breaks in April 2017;

(d)  That an update be provided on the delivery plan appended to the report in April 2017.

To consider a report of the Director of Adult Social Care and Health.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adult Social Care updating the Committee on the Better Care Fund (BCF). The better care fund was launched on 1 April 2015 and encouraged social care systems to work collaboratively towards integration to develop more efficient effective services.

BCF would continue for at least two more years.

The total BCF budget for 2016/17 was £25.51 million.

NHS England and NHS Improvement had published a guidance document in September 2016 providing local NHS organisations with an update on the national priorities for 2017/18 and 2018/19.

In response to question about plans to improve digital sharing of information with Ambulance Services, the Committee requested a progress report on this particular initiative when the Committee next received an update on the BCF.

RESOLVED –

(a)  That the report be received;

(b)   That a further update on BCF together with a progress report on digital information be provided at a future meeting of the Committee.

To review the current Work Programme

The Committee reviewed its work programme.

RESOLVED – That an additional item be added to the 12 January meeting to deal with the budget consultation 2017/18.

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

The Committee reviewed the forward plan.

RESOLVED – that the forward plan be received and noted.