At the commencement of the meeting the Chairman had announced that there would be an additional item of business to consider concerning a Notice of Motion submitted to Council on 13 October concerning LINk (Local Involvement Network). Under normal circumstances the Motion would be presented to Cabinet with a full report but, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972, he was of the opinion that the item should be considered at this meeting as a matter of urgency due to the time sensitive nature of the funding position.
It was reported that the current contract with LINks was due to end in March 2012 but that permission would be sought to extend this until October 2012 as the Council was committed to sustaining the provision of LINKs functions to assure its transition to Local Health Watch.
LINks current functions were due to be retained within the new provision of Local Health Watch, and additional responsibilities would be added, the proposed financial arrangements for which were reported. Total budget figures had not yet been received from Central Government and funding for the transition period could not, therefore, be confirmed at this stage. Officer support for the transition was to be provided by the Council. The Health and Social Care Bill still remained to be finalised and until it was the role of Health Watch, funding, and also the TUPE position of the staff, could not be fully assessed. The Council would have responsibility for developing local service specification for Local Health Watch taking account of guidance and local views.
Cabinet received an assurance that progress would continue to be reported to the Health and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee, and to the Shadow Health and Wellbeing Board. In addition work would be carried out with LINks to provide a wider briefing for Members and other interested parties.
RESOLVED
1. That the report and the proposed actions of the Council be noted.
2. That Cheshire East MPs and the Secretary of State of Health be urged to confirm and clarify that funding for LINks will be available at the earliest opportunity to enable transition arrangements to be planned and a smooth handover be achieved.