Agenda and minutes

To note any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Janet Clowes and Councillor Rob Moreton. Councillor Mike Sewart was present as substitute.

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

There were no declarations of interest from Members.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 20 January 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

In accordance with paragraph 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking, set out in the Constitution, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting.

Petitions - To receive any petitions which have met the criteria - Petitions Scheme Criteria, and falls within the remit of the Committee. Petition organisers will be allowed up to three minutes to speak.

There were no public speakers registered.

To consider the report which sets out the allocation of approved budgets for 2025-26.

The committee considered the report which set out the allocation of approved budgets for 2025-26, from Nicola Wood-Hill, Lead Finance Business Partner.

The Committee were updated that the report detailed the budget for both revenue and capital, as well as earmarked reserves, and that the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) relied on the delivery of the approved budget changes, which were approved by Council. The balancing of the MTFS for 2025 / 2026 relied on the forecast use of Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) of £25.3 million. Any further action that could be taken to reduce the need to use EFS in 2025 / 2026 would also benefit the revenue position through the reduced costs of borrowing.

Members were updated that the cost of digital transformation within the Service had been built into the MTFS, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) linked savings in the MTFS had not yet been allocated out to the services, but there was an anticipation that this would be factored into the Adult Social Care Transformation Plan, building on work currently being trialled in the department. However, the primary aim would be to improve performance and productivity.

Officers committed to provide a written response on how AI could impact the committee.

Members were briefed that Cheshire East Council had set aside a contingency budget due to the potential cost increases associated with raises to the National Living Wage, National Insurance, and other inflationary factors, as most commissioned service costs were driven by pay rates.

Officers committed to providing a written response on the breakdown of the contingency budget.

It was noted that the Adult Social Care Transformation Plan was focussed on how best to change the way people were supported to have an overall downward pressure on the Adult Social Care budget. It was noted that the Adult Social Care Front Door had been successful in managing demand and the number of individuals going on to get an assessment was staying static.

Members were updated that the two remaining PFI sites are Willowmere and Oakmere Extra Care Facilities; these facilities were funded from the PFI grant from Central Government and there was no expectation that these costs would lead to a pressure on Cheshire East’s MTFS in the short term. However, there may be pressures related to the rebuilding of the Beechmere Extra Care Facility as negotiations continue. It was noted that the Public Health Reserve was ringfenced.

RESOLVED: (Unanimously)

That the Adults and Health Committee:

1.    Note the decision of the Finance Sub-Committee to allocate the approved revenue and capital budgets, related budget changes items and earmarked reserves to the Adults and Health Committee, as set out in Annex A.

2.      Note the financial reporting timetable for 2025/26 set out in Annex B as approved at Finance Sub-Committee on 10 March 2025.

To consider a report seeking approval for the Council to accept the Single Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant which would support the Council in achieving its aim of being an organisation which ‘empowers and cares about people’ thus ‘reducing health inequalities across the Borough’.

The committee considered a report which sought approval for the Council to accept the Single Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant which would support the Council in achieving its aim of being an organisation which ‘empowers and cares about people’ thus ‘reducing health inequalities across the Borough’, from Dr Matt Atkinson, Public Health Consultant, and Nik Darwin, Senior Commissioning Manager.

The committee were updated that the money was expected and had already been accounted for in the service budget. The service was funded by ringfenced public health and DATRIG grant which had been factored into the MTFS, however the amount was only recently confirmed, and would not have any wider implications on the budget.

RESOLVED: (unanimously)

That the Adults and Health Committee:

1.    Approve the Council receiving the Single Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Improvement Grant as a supplementary estimate of £524,528.

2.    Delegate authority to the Executive Director of Adults, Health and Integration to oversee the execution of any relevant paperwork in connection with this grant

To receive a briefing report which provides the Adults and Health Committee members with an overview of key activity and performance in Adults Social Care Services.

The Committee received a briefing report which provided the Adults and Health Committee members with an overview of key activity and performance in Adults Social Care Services, from Jill Broomhall, Director of Adult Social Care Operations.

The Committee were updated that there had been a trend in the number of individuals waiting for an assessment, but officers were confident that the risk was well managed and was as a result of reducing the reliance on agency workers. It was noted that digital improvements to the way in which the service operated would help to manage this demand. The digital software improvements being trialled would allow for social workers to record conversations with service users, which would be automatically generated into the assessment form. It was noted that this was had been well received by both social works and service users, and the pilot would be extended to allow for more feedback to be collected. Members were reassured that social workers would continue to check the automatically generated assessment form for any errors, and their summary document would continue to be manually inputted.

It was noted that reviews continued in a downward trend and the percentage of contacts which were converted into referrals remained between 55-65%. However, it was noted that the service continued to see a drop in the number of individuals requesting Direct Payments. Members were updated that the overall position of the number of service users was also on a downward trend due to a high success rate of signposting individuals to more community-based facilities who had specialist knowledge, and that the increase in Cheshire East residents being admitted to hospitals out of the area was due to the hospitals’ specialist facilities, and had no wider impact on the budget.

Members were updated that there were regular performance meetings where the data was discussed with staff and providers, and Cheshire East input into the Adult Social Care Assessment Framework and worked closely with ADASS Northwest to benchmark their data. It was also noted that the results of the CQC inspection were due shortly which would highlight any areas of concern.

It was noted that there was an error in the figures for mental health reablement, and these would be provided to Members.

RESOLVED:

That the updates be considered and noted.

Members requested a briefing on how AI would be used within Adult Social Care, and what impact this would have on the budgets and performance.

To receive a presentation on the response to the Notice Of Motion which was raised at Full Council on 26th February 2025 regarding securing telecare services, and meeting the Challenges presented by the Analogue to Digital Upgrade by 2027.

The committee received a presentation on the response to the Notice Of Motion which was raised at Full Council on 26th February 2025 regarding securing telecare services, and meeting the Challenges presented by the Analogue to Digital Upgrade by 2027, from Curtis Vickers, Head of Integrated Commissioning, and Alice Clark, Programme Lead - Living well for longer.

Councillor Clowes, the proposer of the Notice of Motion, thanked officers for work which had been done to date on the issues set out in the Notice of Motion. Councillor Clowes said that a formal and multiagency approach was required to bring forward the upgrades needed to ensure that the digital upgrade was a success, and to ensure that vulnerable residents were not left without connectivity during power outages. To ensure that residents were able to stay at home for longer, a better digital provision would be required.

Councillor Kolker, the seconder of the Notice of Motion, reiterated points made by Councillor Clowes, and noted that digital infrastructure was not as good as it needed to be, and a contingency plan was required to help those who needed it.

During the presentation, Members were updated that:

·         In November 2017, UK communications providers announced intentions to retire copper analogue telephone landline networks and replace with digital lines using a broadband connection. For most customers, the upgrade was expected to be complete by January 2027.

·         Digital telecare provided a more reliable service. The transition to digital telecare devices was important to reduce the risk of some telecare users losing this service when telephone lines go digital.

·         The risk with digital landlines was that they may not function in a power cut unless there was a backup power system, so appropriate mitigations were required.

·         There were 520 Analogue Council-owned lifeline base units currently in use in Cheshire East (as of 4 March 2025). 

·         To date, Cheshire East Council had data sharing agreements signed by four of the major telecom providers (BT/EE/PlusNet, Virgin media/O2, Sky and Vodafone.

·         Major telecoms providers would not start to migrate vulnerable customers in Northwest region until the summer / autumn of 2025.

·         Telecoms providers had shared communications with customers regarding the switchover and providers were taking additional measures to safeguard telecare users.

·         Cheshire East Council had already:

·         Stopped the sale and purchase of analogue telecare devices.

·         Phased out the redeployment of analogue alarm devices in circulation.

·         Ensured that residents had analogue equipment which functioned: any issues with connectivity to the Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) were picked up by the ARC team and local service engineers would investigate/resolve. Telecare service provider had a robust onboarding process for any new digital telecare devices.

·         Ensured that ARC platforms were interoperable.

·         Cheshire East Council was in the process of:

·         Sharing data to ensure telecare users were correctly identified, and the necessary safeguards put in place.

·         Only migrating telecare users to digital landline services if they had a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.

·         Identifying telecare users who were the most at risk.

·         Raising awareness of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To consider the Work Programme and determine any required amendments.

The committee considered the Work Programme.

Members were asked to review the work programme and contact the Chair or Democratic Services with any suggestions of scrutiny items that they would like to put forward for the Committee.

It was noted that from April 2025, the timing of morning committee meetings would change from 10:00 to 10:30.

RESOLVED:

The following was noted:

Members requested that they receive a briefing on the CQC Report and a series of briefings on the Commissioned Services provided by the Directorate, and how they perform against their Key Performance Indicators.

Members noted the difficulties that some members of the public can face when trying to make medical appointments online, and it was suggested that a recommendation be made to the Scrutiny Committee.

That the Adults and Health Committee meeting on 22 September 2025 would be held as a twilight meeting, commencing at 17:30.

To receive the minutes of the Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board – 21 January 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board held on 21 January 2025 be received and noted.