Agenda item

To consider a report of the Strategic Director of Children, Families and Adults.

Lorraine Butcher explained that on 11 July 2012, the Government published its White Paper on the future of Adult Social care together with a draft ‘Care and Support’ Bill covering its implementation. Lorraine Butcher continued to summarise the key issues contained within the paper.

Lorraine Butcher explained that whilst the White Paper had been criticised by some organisations as not being far reaching enough, it was on the whole a relatively radical report. For instance, it had sought to re-write the statutory framework around Adult Social Care and for this and other reasons it had been well received by the Directors of Adult Services.

In terms of the main themes in the report, Lorraine Butcher noted that personalisation was still the main driver for reform. Additionally, there was a clear expectation that Councils would work increasingly with partners to deliver social care services and in doing so make the most of the skills and talents in local communities.

Lorraine Butcher summarised by explaining that much of what the paper espoused in terms of principles and good practice was not new and was already being actively pursued and developed within the Council. Having said that, there was still uncertainty over how the Council would be expected to deliver on the more far reaching parts of the Act without national funding reform. Lorraine Butcher reported that the Council would be able redesign the current use of resource to a certain extent but extra funding would be required if the proposals were to be fully achieved.

Attention was drawn to the ‘person centred approach’ outlined in ‘The Vision’ on page 40 of the agenda. It was queried whether this would be appropriate for those service users with dementia who perhaps would not be able to express or articulate their need. Lucia Scally explained that the approach espoused by the White Paper was to move from a reactive system to a proactive system. Those service users with dementia would therefore be involved in the choices about their care at an earlier stage.

Reference was made to the 4^th bullet point on page 33 of the agenda which made reference to providing carers with a right to assessment ‘if they appear to need support’. It was suggested that this language could be perceived as being imprecise. Councillor Janet Clowes acknowledged that this was an issue but noted that it was difficult for the Council to speak with any certainty on how all carers would be supported because very often, there were a high number of ‘hidden carers’. Councillor Janet Clowes noted that the Council was working hard to engage and support all people who were in a caring role.

It was queried whether carers’ needs were included in a re-ablement package. Councillor Janet Clowes confirmed that they were but that further work was required to follow up whether the service was being received. Lucia Scally added that that the Council was also working to improve access to information for carers.

It was questioned whether there would be any implications for the Council following the proposal to outsource social care assessments. Lorraine Butcher explained that the Council was still unsure how this would be modelled. Having said this, there were some concerns about the proposal particularly in terms of moving the delivery away from the decision making process.

It was noted that the closing date for the consultation on the White Paper was the 19 October 2012. It was suggested that a small group of Councillors from the Committee meet with Lorraine Butcher to provide some input to the Council’s corporate response.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted.

b)    That the Scrutiny Officer arrange a meeting with the Strategic Director of Children, Families and Adults and representatives from the Committee to discuss the Council’s response to the White Paper consultation prior to 19 October 2012.